


The Catch

by Xyriath



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aborted Adam/Shiro, Aborted James/Keith, Alpha Keith (Voltron), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Bottom Shiro (Voltron), Breeding, First Time, Fisting, Heats, Intersex Omegas, Knotting, M/M, Omega Shiro (Voltron), mention of litters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-27
Packaged: 2019-07-03 07:54:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 35,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15814674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xyriath/pseuds/Xyriath
Summary: Decades ago, a disease that rendered the majority of humanity infertile swept through the world. Now, a generation later, governments are taking action: national systems provide significant incentive for those who have children, offering them stipends, tax cuts, and other opportunities the average person might not be able to afford.Shirogane Takashi has been avoiding these expectations for a few years now, despite frequent attempts by the government to court him. He has impressive genes, or so he’s been told, with a body of remarkable childbearing capability. But he’s always had his own goals, his own ambitions, and raising a family didn’t fit into that.But everyone has their price, and Shiro is eventually offered his. Though nervous, he has to admit that he’s more than a little excited, too—biological instincts don’t go away, after all, and it’ll be nice to have someone during a heat.The catch: he’s spent so long declining that now he’s expected to report to the local breeding center to verify that he’s playing along. The second catch: he’s as far from the stereotypical omega as you get, and he’s learning that most alphas don’t enjoy that.The third catch: he wasn’t expecting to fall in love.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Sheith Big Bang 2018!!
> 
> [Please check out the art that the amazing Slouph did here!](http://slouph.tumblr.com/post/177463541996/the-catch-by-xyriath-read-on-ao3-for)
> 
> Also, this was fleshed out from a concept that one of my closest friends helped me talk out and RP; she writes an amazing Keith and a lot of his best lines are probably hers! Please check out [Getti's fic here!](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Epsy/pseuds/Getti)

Shiro stared down at the screen in front of him, anxiety flittering frantically in his stomach.

He had run his fingers across the tablet’s screen several times by now, scrolling through the email, seeking some sort of trick, or catch, or loophole.  But he spotted nothing.

Shiro had received emails like this before, of course, and had for years since turning 18.  He had woken up on his birthday to a dozen of them from every single local facility that participated in the New Life Initiative, and even a few private ones that didn’t.  All of that mandatory testing had apparently demonstrated that not only did Shiro have impressive genetics, but his body was particularly fertile as well as resilient in a way that made him a prime candidate for childbearing.  He might not look like an omega, but there was no question of his capabilities.

They had offered him plenty in the years that followed, in the ways that only governments could: stipends, tax cuts, free housing. But he had never received anything like _this._

_Dear Mr. Shirogane,_

_Based upon your inquiries into available internships with the Galaxy Research Institute, we would like to inform you of an available opportunity.  The New Life Initiative has a number of reserved spaces across governmental agencies for interested applicants, and we would be thrilled to offer you one of these exclusive positions within the Institute.  A candidate of your abilities deserves the opportunity to excel, and the New Life Initiative can assist you with just that if you enroll within the Initiative._

_If you choose to do so, the Initiative will also provide full financial assistance for any higher education you may wish to pursue, as well as the stipend, housing opportunities, and tax exemptions afforded to participants.  Additionally, we offer full-time career opportunities within these governmental agencies exclusive to Initiative participants, should you wish to pursue them after graduation._

_This offer is only available to selected individuals enrolled within our ten year program or longer.  Although you are not currently enrolled, genetic testing has shown you to be an individual who automatically qualifies for participation if you so choose._

_Attached, you will find the documents that detail the expectations of a New Life Initiative participant for individuals within your age group, as well as the necessary forms that must be completed, signed, and returned within thirty days to be eligible for this offer._

_We look forward to hearing from you!_

Shiro ran his finger slowly down the side of the tablet.

He _could_ get the internship himself.  Probably.  Maybe?  He knew that he was an especially promising candidate; his professors had made that very clear.  But joining the Galaxy Research Institute was easily the most competitive career path in the country: everyone wanted to be a part of the next step in history, wanted to participate in the quest to send humanity into the stars and colonize distant planets.

Wanted to make sure that if anything like the Barren Era happened again, humanity would have a chance to survive that didn’t rely on a miracle.

And this—this wasn’t just an offer of an internship.  This was an offer to hand Shiro the rest of his life on a platter.

He pulled out the attached file and gave it a skim, though he barely processed the words.  He already had it practically memorized, and had for years.  It hadn’t changed since then.

The “sign” icon glowed blue at the top.

—

Shiro answered the call that night with a little bit of trepidation.  He knew that he had no one to impress, but he found himself brushing his hair down nervously.

He pressed “answer” on his phone, and the smiling image of Shirogane Kazuo filled the silence.

“Hi, Dad.”

“Shiro.”  Warmth filled Shiro’s chest at the pride in his father’s voice.  “How are you?”

Despite his earlier worries, Shiro could feel the nervousness bleed out of him.  Though his university workload had made nightly conversations impossible, he hated to go more than a week without checking in with his father.

“I’m doing pretty well, actually.  I’ve got some really good things going on.”

His father brightened.  “That’s great to hear!  Any news on the internship?”

Shiro’s grin widened, excited in spite of his nervousness.  “Actually, yeah.  I heard back today.  It’s all mine, and they want to consider me for a career in the future, too.”

His father’s gasp left something warm bubbling in Shiro’s chest.  “That’s amazing!  You’re going to accept, right?  Are you going to stay on campus?”

Shiro paused, hesitation twisting in his gut.  There was no shame to it, of course, but… how did you tell your _dad_ that you were about to…

“What is…”  Kazuo, keen as ever, lifted his eyebrows.  “Shiro, did you _meet_ someone?”

Guilt lurked in his chest at the guarded excitement in his father’s eyes.  Shiro knew, of course, that Kazuo tried very hard not to pressure him in the way a lot of other parents did.  While the previous generation hadn’t been the ones with the worst rate of infection, they had grown up surrounded by far fewer children and stories from their parents about the horrible disease that had swept through the population, leaving nearly everyone sterile and almost destroying humanity.  Though a vaccine had been developed decades ago and administered to almost the entirety of Shiro’s generation, they were still the ones who had to bear the panic of the last two generations and the pressure to reproduce as frequently as possible—especially omegas like Shiro.

But Kazuo had understood that Shiro’s aspirations and dreams came first.  He had made far more of an effort to refrain from making it a common topic of discussion than nearly all of Shiro’s friends’ parents.

But seeing that raw yearning that escaped Kazuo at the implication left Shiro desperate to make his father proud.

“Not… exactly,” he began carefully, thinking quickly in an attempt to forestall what would undoubtedly be an attempt at masking disappointment on Kazuo’s face.

His father’s expression dropped.  “You… you’re not taking them up on it?  But Shiro, isn’t this what you’ve wanted for…”

“No!” he interrupted, lifting his hands.  “No, no, I’m definitely taking the internship.  I just, uh…”

“What is it, Shiro?”

Shiro shifted uncomfortable.  He certainly found no shame in it, just…

How did you tell your dad about all the sex you were going to be having?

“So.. you know all those letters I’m always getting from the New Life Initiative?”

—

_ Four Weeks Later _

Shiro tried not to tap his foot nervously as he waited at the counter.

The center was nice, after all.  Flower arrangements—fake, but that was to be expected—warm wood paneling, even a small waterfall garden pool contraption off to one side.  Still a little clinical, but welcoming nonetheless.  And Shiro didn’t want to be _rude._

But he was nervous.  He’d taken the Initiative up on its offer, yes, but even after all these weeks, he had yet to find anyone interested at the meetings.  A few omegas had approached him, but quickly withdrawn in embarrassment when they realized their mistake.  And Shiro couldn’t stand the feigned interest of alphas out of politeness anymore.

Would the Institute withdraw their offer if Shiro couldn’t find someone soon?

The woman at the desk—a specialist in assistance, apparently, not even a normal receptionist—had seemed sympathetic, though, picking up on the problem before Shiro had even finished explaining.  On one hand, it relieved Shiro to know that, while not common, it wasn’t a new problem.  But on the other, if it was so obvious, did Shiro even have a chance at meeting a match?

The automatic doors slid open, and Shiro glanced over as the woman at the desk continued to type.

The new entry headed over to one of the other desks, the receptionist, likely here for only a typical visit.  Though drenched from the rain—and what seemed like some sweat, possibly—he was no less attractive for it; pretty, honestly, and Shiro caught himself admiring the fine features, the dark hair that was probably soft when dry, stray locks sticking to the sides of a face set with an intense expression.  And a _motorcycle_ helmet.  An awesome one, too, with a red motif of knives and flames set against black.  Beautiful _and_ badass.

Shiro’s type, really.  Pity he was probably here for an alpha.  He’d have no problem finding a willing one, he was sure.

But he walked off with a wave to the receptionist, and Shiro no longer had anything to distract himself as the woman in front of him kept typing, and Shiro kept fretting.

Until her eyes lit up.  Shiro felt hope bloom in his chest.

“Well, it’s a little unorthodox for a first session here—usually we prefer to have you choose your first few times—but I’ve run compatibility tests with our current local alphas and it seems like there’s one present with whom you might get along quite well.  Your genetic compatibility is off the charts, and he seems to match in many of your personal preferences, too…”

Shiro exhaled a sigh of relief at the “he;” it had gotten to the point where he had been worried that they would try to pair him off with a woman, though he could have managed if there had been no other option.  Probably.

“Okay.  Sure, we can do that.  Uh.”  He cleared his throat, head spinning a little at the suddenness of it all.  “So, easy as that?”

She nodded, smiling up at him, and Shiro wondered why he was suddenly so anxious.  This was good, right?  He’d wanted this.

“Follow Dr. Garrett to the checkup room.  He’ll have a series of optional injections to help calm you, or simulate a lesser version of a heat, if you’d prefer, for your comfort.  You’ve stuck to your schedule of fertility drugs?”

Shiro nodded, swallowing nervously.

“Perfect.”  She beamed.  “Right this way.  Dr. Garrett!”

—

Shiro smiled at the comforting presence of the doctor, and Dr. Garrett smiled right back.

“Welcome back, Shiro.  How are you feeling?  No side effects from the basic drug course?”  He held open the door for him and gestured at the exam table.  “Take a seat.”

“Nope.  I feel fine.”  Shiro hopped up onto the table, feet nearly brushing the ground.

“That’s great!  Shay tells me that we might have a potential bio match for you today, which isn’t all that surprising to me.  You’re exactly the kind of person this program has been looking for.  I’m sure you’ll be fine, but if you want any help with the process, we have some choices for you.”  He opened the drawer, revealing rows of syringes, but Shiro barely blinked.  He’d grown far too used to them during his fertility drug course.  “There’s a calming agent if you’re worried about nerves.  We also have a stimulant to trigger a kind of proto-heat—won’t last more than a few hours, but should give you a good indication of whether or not you two are compatible.”

Shiro’s lips twisted.  He’d actually planned his first visit a few weeks ago to coincide with his heat; so much for not having to spend them alone.  But if this new alpha worked out…

“These are totally optional.  No worries if you just want to head in and say hello.”

Shiro knew himself better than that.  “I’ll take the second one,” he said, trying not to sound too nervous.

 “Sure thing.”  Dr. Garrett pulled out the serum, lifting it and inspecting it carefully, then attached a syringe.  “A little pinch and then you’ll be on your way.  The effects take about ten to fifteen minutes to kick in, but once they start, it’s much faster than your organic heat.  If you need to tap out, the button is on the table and someone will come and get you.  But our alphas are vetted and they’re all good people; you can ask and your partner will help you, too.”

The chatter never broke, and Shiro barely felt the pinch as he nodded.  A strip of tape over some gauze and Shiro was done.

“The room will be ready in about ten minutes.  Your partner should be there waiting for you.  In the meantime, there’s a small nook where you can make yourself comfortable across the hall.”

Shiro swallowed, then steeled himself and stood.  “Sure thing.  I’ll… I’ll go now.”

This would be fine.  It would all be fine.


	2. Chapter 2

Keith rocked up late.

He had to park his bike two blocks down, not wanting to risk yet another lecture about how the noise wasn’t good for nesting omegas, and about a half a block after that, the sky that had been threatening to pour all day had finally opened up, dumping its contents on Keith’s head.  He hadn’t brought an umbrella, of course, and by the time he had jogged through the automatic doors of the center, he was hot, wet, tired, and cranky.  Air conditioning and calming pheromones blasted down onto him as he stepped inside, and even though a few people turned to give him and his ragged breaths dirty looks, he was mostly ignored.

He headed to the reception desk to sign in.  He needed the bonus, this time.  A good impression was a must.  It had been a while since anyone had selected him, and he suspected it had to do with the fact that he was no bigger than most omegas, if he was lucky, and lacked whatever aura that promised the ability to absolutely wreck someone in bed.  But he had been told by more than one of the clinic’s quacks that it was because he was too cold and unwelcoming.  He’d practiced smiling in the mirror that morning.

He’d looked deranged.

“Hey.  I’m back.”

“Welcome back, Mr. Kogane,” the receptionist said pleasantly to him, seemingly ignoring his bedraggled state.  “We’ll have a room ready for you in about fifteen minutes.  Do you want to take that time to rinse yourself a bit?  Perhaps dry your clothes?”

The steely tone that braced the polite words made it clear that this wasn’t a request.

“Yeah, I’ll be ready,” Keith agreed, running gloved fingers through his hair.  Great, soaked.  He signed the check-in screen, dropped the stylus, and shucked off his jacket, glancing around.

He’d missed Mr. Tall, Buff, and Handsome and his jawline sharp enough to cut glass, somehow, in his rush to sign in, and Keith took the moment to surreptitiously ogle those thighs.  An alpha snack like _that_ would get snapped up in a hot second.  Hell, Keith found himself wanting to have a bite, himself.

Not that that would ever happen.

“Another newbie?”

The receptionist raised an eyebrow at him.  “Confidentiality, Mr. Kogane.”

“Right,” Keith said, voice flat.  Like anything was going to be confidential here once they laid out the compatibility charts, or when Keith started getting his dick wet.  He draped his jacket over one arm and gave her a wave as he headed for the shower.

The dryers made quick work of his clothes, and by the time he was out, he could get dressed, and it was only a few more minutes before he had stepped into the room, settling into the big armchair and trying to stop fidgeting.  He should be sitting up straight, making himself big, spreading out and claiming space.  He should be asserting dominance from the outset.  But this was always the awkward part—and the bit where a lot of people turned him down.

His hair stuck to his neck, damp from the showers.  He wondered if he should have showered at all.  He probably washed all of his scent right off.  Great.

Keith was staring at the end of the bed when the door opened.  He sucked in a breath and turned to look over his shoulder, hoping that this time he could make some kind of good impression.

But he forgot all that when he laid eyes on the most attractive man to ever walk the goddamn Earth.  A broad chest, wide enough that doors were probably an issue, and big hands registered in an instant.  A strong, square jaw was paired with soft gray eyes, and distantly, he realized that this was the guy from earlier, just… way more gorgeous up close.  Keith was glad that he was sitting down, because his knees went kind of jelly-like just at the idea of getting to touch someone so beautiful.

Which was why he assumed he never would.

“You’re probably supposed to be next door,” he says, sullenly turning back around.  That was the kind of guy people expected Keith to be when they read his stats.  And then they got to his height, and his weight, and just _him_ , and it all always went downhill from there.

—

Shiro froze at the voice, and his anxiety was thundering along at such a pace that it took everything in him not to jump back and apologize profusely.

Because they did seem to have given him the wrong room; the other omega inside wasn’t wrong about that.  But…

“Next door is an exam room,” he said, a little faintly, a little disappointed that someone so pretty wasn’t in his future.  “Uh.  Sorry, there probably is some kind of mix-up, but I’m not sure what to do about that.  I haven’t… been here before.  Or, well, I have, but not… that is…”

God, he was rambling, and a heat— _his_ heat—was building in his abdomen, and it had already taken enough courage to come in here; now, he had to plant his feet and not move to keep from bolting.

“Oh.”  An awkward beat, and the man in the chair stood, watching Shiro for a moment, then seemed to take pity on him.  “I’ll get the doctor.  Don’t worry about it too much—I bet whoever gets you is gonna be more than fine with it.”  The man stopped in front of Shiro, and it took Shiro several seconds to realize that he was waiting for Shiro to move.  “But this room’s mine.  I’m waiting for a Shiroga… ne…”

Shiro perked up, but then wilted again visibly.  “That’s me, yeah.  But I think they…”  He ran his fingers through his hair, biting his lip.  “Got me mixed up.  Again.”  This time, the frustration bled through into his voice.  Had he not been clear enough?  Was it that hard to process what he was?  It was in the damn file, for god’s sake.

“I hope not,” the man murmured absently.  Shiro glanced over, confused, trying to assess the expression on that face, wary and embarrassed and even a little hopeful.  “I’m Keith.  Kogane.  I think I’m your assigned alpha.”

He held out his hand, expression still mostly wary, and Shiro stared at it for a moment, relief finally rushing through him.

“You’re an alpha,” he said, as if he had to confirm, convince himself that this was real.  “Oh.  Okay, good.  I mean—I didn’t—”  He laughed, the relief growing, and shook the hand.  “I’m sorry.  My name is Shiro.”

Keith shook, and Shiro tried not to let the unchanging expression concern him.

“The paperwork is on the desk,” Keith said, turning back towards the armchair, as if he did this every day.  Maybe he did.  His enthusiasm didn’t seem to match Shiro’s.

“Huh?”  Shiro turned, and indeed, a tablet sat on the small desk.  He sternly told himself not to feel so disappointed.  This wasn’t especially personal, after all, though he had expected it to be a little _less_ clinical.  The warmly-furnished room, nicer than most hotels, would have suggested that, anyway.  But maybe, for everyone else, this really was just a business transaction.

“What do I need to read it for?” he asked, feeling foolish for not already knowing.

“It’s… got my stats, if you want them.  Family history, medical history, physical features, that sort of thing.  And then we both have to sign to say we consent.  And then there’s a bit for like, stuff you don’t want to do when you’re in heat.  In case you’re too out of it and someone tries to make you.”  Keith paused.  “I’m not gonna try and make you do anything on there.  But it’s good to know.”

Right.  Shiro remembered that form from the extensive amount of paperwork he’d filled out when all of this had started.  Most of the things he’d had an issue with were on the explicitly forbidden list anyway, so he knew there would be nothing to add.

He stepped over, swiped the screen open with the stylus, and signed immediately with one hand as he pulled out and skimmed Keith’s list with the other.  Nothing to worry about.  He placed it back in its spot, then turned back, holding up the tablet.  “Do you need the pen?”

“I, uh…”  Keith blinked over at him.  “You didn’t even read most of it.  Are you sure?  You don’t have to, you know.”

Shiro stiffened a bit at the question, anxiety sinking into the pit of his stomach again.  He leaned back slightly.  The same thing as always.

“Would you rather have someone else?”

“No!” Keith blurted out, straightening, then settled back, as if embarrassed by the outburst.  “No.  But… wouldn’t you?”  He watched Shiro cautiously, and Shiro fiddled with the pen.

“No, why?”

A pause for several beats, and Keith shrugged, standing.  “…Never mind.  If you’re happy, then I’m happy.”  He stepped forward, reaching out to gently pull the stylus from Shiro’s fingers.  “Let me sign too.”

Shiro inhaled, startled at the realization that his companion was suddenly so close.  As he did so, his nose caught the scent, faint, but present.

 _Definitely_ an alpha.

Their fingers were close enough to almost touch, and he licked his lips, aching with the realization that they wouldn’t.

“Yeah,” Shiro finally said, a little unevenly, but he didn’t move, trying to inhale the scent with some semblance of subtlety instead of leaning in like a starving man at a bakery.

The heat injection was _definitely_ working.

Keith scrawled underneath Shiro’s neat signature.  For someone who asked why Shiro hadn’t read, he didn’t seem to be too interested, either—but then again, maybe he had read it previously.

“So, uh.  We can talk, if that helps.  Or we can, you know, get to it.  Did you take any of the aids?”

Shiro nodded.  “Just the heat one.  The doctor was nice.”  He swallowed and took in the room.  It was fairly nice, more than what he had been expecting.  Warm hardwood floor, the walls painted an attractive slate blue, and even a couch, a few chairs, and a table—presumably for “getting to know each other.”

And, of course, the bed.  Shiro tried not to look at it.

He went over to sit on the couch.  Talk.  Probably.  Try not to freak out.

“So much for the weather report,” he began.  “Can’t believe it’s raining on my first visit.”

“I promise not to make you go outside,” Keith said with a wry grin.  He glanced towards the chairs, presumably farther away and less intrusive, but something apparently called him to Shiro’s side on the couch.  “It’s weird that we haven’t met before now.  Usually we’d have picked each other from the meet and greets.”

“I’m new.”  Shiro’s voice was more unsteady than he would like.  “First time and stuff.  It’s been… they just… it’s been a few weeks since they offered.  And with this new internship I have, I could only meet later ones, and I didn’t really run into anyone who was interested.  Or who wasn’t interested out of pity, anyway, and I don’t want…”

 _Not for my first time_ , he doesn’t want to say, a little out of embarrassment.  And not just at the center, either.

Keith snorted softly.  “You’re trying to tell me _you_ had a hard time getting a match?  I feel better about my dry run, now.  People here must be blind.  Or maybe it’s just the newbie meet and greets.”  Keith wrinkled his nose, and the “people assume” lingered unsaid between them.  After all, they had both done it to each other.

“I’m not exactly the ideal omega,” Shiro replied dryly.

“Give it some time.  More seasoned alphas have better taste.”  Keith thumbed through the paperwork idly, eyes skimming numbers and graphs.

Then he sat up straight.

“You’re… did you know that we’re a ninety-six percent match?”  Keith flipped through a couple of times, checking again.  “That’s gotta be a mistake.”

The words caught Shiro’s attention, and he straightened as well.  “What?  Like, genetically?”

“Yeah.  And our physical and personality tests.  I’ve hardly ever see it go above seventy.  And definitely not with _me._ ”

Keith looked up, somewhat awestruck, and Shiro had to swallow down the urge to ask why not with him as he drowned in violet eyes.

“Does it say why?”  Shiro glanced away, peering at the paperwork instead, the news enough to distract him, a bit, from the growing heat between his legs and the musky smell of alpha.

“No.  I don’t know how they measure it.  But they’re usually… right.”

They sat in silence for a few moments, and Shiro swallowed, his distraction growing as his eyes flicked over, taking in the lines on Keith’s neck…

Keith turned back to look at Shiro, and Shiro jumped slightly.

“Your proto-heat is kicking in, huh?”

“Oh.  Yeah.”  He cleared his throat, mildly embarrassed, and watched Keith carefully.

“Is it uncomfortable?  Do you want me to scent you?”  Shiro blinked at the offer, blunt and unexpected, and Keith continued, mumbling, sounding a little embarrassed, as if he were worried he had jumped the gun.  “It can make it feel better.”

Shiro exhaled sharply, and his hand found Keith’s knee to steady himself.

“Yes,” came the answer, no hesitation in his voice.

Keith exhaled slowly, and Shiro watched him nod.

“I’m gonna touch you,” he said softly, and something about the way he offered a warning, sensitive to Shiro’s nervousness, doing his best to make his first time as easy as possible, left a warmth sparking through Shiro’s chest.  Reaching out, Keith took Shiro’s hand, turning it over.

Underneath, on Shiro’s wrist, the scent glands had begun to swell already, barely noticeable unless you knew what to look for.  Keith handled them with finesse, massaging them gently with his thumb until the pressure drained, then swiping his own wrist over the top.

Shiro could smell Keith’s scent dousing him, rich and thickening, and when had his eyelids drifted half-closed?

Keith took Shiro’s wrist and repeated the gentle kneading.  “There’s these two here, and then the ones on your neck.  The others are in the groin, but we can leave those if you want.”

“Okay,” Shiro panted softly, the attention already leaving him weak in the knees.  He’d touched himself before, of course, but there was something about having someone else do it, something about having _Keith_ do it, and although he knew everything Keith was saying, he didn’t want to interrupt that voice.

He finally closed his eyes, unable to resist the need to lean in, to take in the scent emanating from Keith’s neck.

Shiro felt Keith lower his wrist, and then a palm was running up the column of his arm.  The hand was surprisingly gentle as it slipped behind Shiro’s neck, slowly starting to stimulate the glands at the back.  Shiro lost himself in the heady bliss of the moment, moaning softly, tilting his head forward…

But… he should return the favor, shouldn’t he?  If it felt this nice, he was sure Keith wanted the same.  Wrapping his arm around Keith’s small frame, he rubbed slowly at the same spot.

It was just what he needed.

The heady scent of alpha, presumably washed away by an earlier shower, filled Shiro’s nose, and with a desperate groan, he buried his face under Keith’s jaw and inhaled.  His mouth fell open slightly, an attempt to take in _everything_ , and Keith’s noise of approval was all the warning Shiro got before Keith rubbed his face hard into Shiro’s hair, saturating him with Keith’s smell.

They gently butted heads until, presumably, Keith was satisfied enough to relax back into Shiro’s fingers at the top of his spine.  He melted a little, having ended up half on top of Shiro in the haste of it all, but neither of them made to move.

“Good?”

“Mmhmm,” Shiro groaned, and he couldn’t pull away now if you paid him.  He was glad he’d worn loose pants, because his body, he realized was now unapologetically hard, and growing slick to boot.  God, it _did_ feel like a real heat.

But this time, he wouldn’t be alone.

Shiro turned unfocused eyes on Keith, taking in the wide gaze, the intent expression.  Still no smile, but clearly bent on pleasing Shiro.

A hand slid down Shiro’s hard chest, then down to the even harder tent in his pants.  Shiro groaned, closing his eyes, almost burning with the sheer force of it all.  Keith only offered a gentle squeeze before moving on, slipping below and pressing a flat palm up hard behind Shiro’s balls.

“I want…” Keith began, a little breathless.  “If you want to, we could do it now.  It’s allowed.  I _really_ want to,” he admitted.

The words sent a delicious shiver through Shiro, who was certainly more than a little breathless at the thought of being wanted like this.  “Isn’t that what we’re here for?” he panted, grinding down onto Keith’s hand grinding up into him.  “God, that’s… wow, you’re… _please._ ”

He’d seen erect alpha cock in porn; he wondered if it was really that big.  God, he hoped so.

“You want to head to the bed?” Keith offered, grinding his palm up once again.

“Mmhmm,” Shiro groaned again, but he didn’t move, unable to stop gripping Keith closer.  He needed to move, he knew this, but the thought of losing contact with Keith was agonizing.

“Or you can just stay here,” Keith said with a little laugh, and Shiro distantly realized how his arms were like an octopus around Keith.

Keith pulled his hand free, but before Shiro could protest, he leaned down to catch Shiro’s mouth in a kiss.

Shiro let out a startled yelp, but then pushed forward into it, kissing Keith back clumsily.  He tasted unexpectedly wonderful, and while he had of course kissed before, it had never been like _this._

“Fuck,” Keith breathed, pulling back, and Shiro found himself gasping, inadvertently chasing him before he caught himself.  Still, that gave him a front row seat to watch Keith lick his lips nervously.

Shiro wobbled for a moment, coming back to himself slightly, but then the solution to the long distance hit him.  Reaching underneath Keith to grip his ass, he stood, lifting him with near-effortless ease, then stumbled over to the bed.

For a moment, with Keith’s wide-eyed expression, Shiro worried that he had made him angry.  But then—

“Jesus _fuck_ ,” Keith ejected, tangling a fist in Shiro’s collar and dragging him down for a furious kiss.  “That was—” he said between kisses, “so fucking hot.”

“Really?”  Shiro laughed disbelievingly, kissing back eagerly, crawling up onto the bed.  “Was worried that… alphas don’t like…”

But finishing the thought took too much effort.  He kissed Keith back with fervor.

Keith caught Shiro’s jaw in his hands, and he pulled back to look Shiro in the eye.  Shiro couldn’t stop a whine from escaping his throat at the loss of contact.

“You could pick me up and throw me out a window if you wanted to.  You could snap my arm like a twig.  But I’m still gonna fuck you through the bed, and that is _hot._ ”

Shiro let out a full-bodied shudder at the threat.  The _promise._

“Please, _god_ ,” he whispered raggedly.

“Take your shirt off,” Keith ordered breathlessly, pushing Shiro back and reaching over his own head to yank off his faded tee.

Shiro watched him hungrily, reaching up to unbutton his shirt, but his fingers shook too much to get more than one or two down.  This was taking so _long._  With a growl of frustration, he yanked down the middle, popping the buttons off and sending them scattering.

He wasn’t wearing a shirt like this to the center again.

Not fully off, but good enough.  With a groan, he surged forward again, past Keith’s attempt to keep him down, and he continued to kiss him frantically, reaching down to yank at Keith’s pants.  He’d tear those, too, if they took too long to get them off.

But Keith pulled away, doing the work himself, and Shiro watched hungrily as he pulled his jeans and then his boxers free.  Heat, desire, _need_ burned within Shiro, and the moment Keith’s clothes were gone, he’d wrapped his thighs around Keith, drawing him in, not even taking the time to appraise the size of his cock—or caring that it was now leaking onto Shiro’s crotch.  Slick dripped down Shiro’s thighs, and god, he needed to be fucked, and fucked good—

Distantly, Shiro noticed Keith laughing into his mouth, but then he broke free.  Shiro groaned in a combination of frustration and pleasure as he was shoved solidly into the sheets, but the hands deftly undressing him was a slight comfort, at least.

“ _Hurry!_ ” he demanded.

The pants dropped over the side of the bed, and Keith immediately covered Shiro with his own body.  Shiro still hadn’t shrugged off his sleeves, but they had finally managed skin to skin contact, and there was something cool about Keith, almost calming.  Shiro wondered how hot he must feel against Keith’s skin.  Distantly, he could hear a growl rumbling from somewhere—from the back of Keith’s throat.  Low.  Possessive.  That growl was almost enough for Shiro to come alone.

Keith buried it in a desperate kiss, and hands groped at the slick skin of Shiro’s thighs, fingers gliding across them.  His thumb found Shiro’s final scent glands, gently rubbing each of them in turn.  Shiro kissed back frantically, relieved to finally be against Keith again, but Keith’s hips weren’t down, and he was still going so _slow_ , and Shiro could only keen in desperation, pleading wordlessly.

Finally, _finally_ , Keith followed the slick trail up to where it was hottest, fingers discovering exactly how much of a wet mess Shiro was when he pressed his palm there again, no barrier between them this time.  Shiro’s eyes nearly rolled back in his head, the intimacy of the act overwhelming as pleasure rocked through him.  He ground down onto Keith’s hand, leaking all over it.

“Please,” he panted, ready to be fucked within an inch of his life.

“Whatever you want.”  The hand left, but returned a moment later with fingers curled.  Only one slid inside him, but it went so easily that Shiro gritted his teeth at the caution.

“More!” he demanded, heady with Keith’s promise.  “God, I need… you’re so…”  He didn’t know what he was trying to say, only that he wanted Keith more than he could ever express.  That he _needed_ Keith.

Keith licked his lips again, and Shiro’s eyes locked onto the motion.  “If that’s what you want…”

Shiro was about to snap _something_ else at him when Keith dropped down, pushing Shiro’s legs wider, and licked into wet heat.

Shiro yelped in shock as Keith’s tongue slid inside him, and he jolted alongside the cry, gasping, toes curling into the sheets.  Distantly, he remembered—or thought he did; hadn’t it been on Keith’s list of things he wouldn’t—

But that didn’t matter now.  His hands reached down to grip Keith’s shoulders, nails biting into the pale skin.  “What—”

Keith pinned Shiro’s hips and worked his mouth harder, and Shiro shuddered helplessly at every movement.

Just when he thought he couldn’t handle anything more, Keith reached up, gripping Shiro in his fist and jerking lazily.

Shiro let out a strangled cry.  He hadn’t expected this, hadn’t expected anything even remotely like it.  He ground forward demandingly, begging for it, opening for Keith’s mouth, and tightening when he couldn’t help it anymore, ripples of pleasure and growing need shuddering through him.  He never could have imagined such intimacy in an act like this, had never expected the act itself at all, and as pleasure sparked through him, he never wanted it to end.

Keith finally broke free, and Shiro let out a groan of regret as he blinked dazedly up at him, taking in the breathless grin and the shine on his chin.

“God, you’re so ready.  Did you finger yourself before you came here?”

“No,” Shiro panted, nearly sobbing.  “I… I didn’t think… I’ve never…”

But it was too much for him to finish the thought, and as he tightened around Keith’s fingers, he tilted his head back and let out a groan.

Half of that groan, however, was cut off by Keith’s mouth against his as he kissed Shiro again.  He caught a slight hint of tanginess, and Shiro whimpered as he pulled free, dazed at the thought that he tasted like _that_.

Keith shifted forward, and Shiro swallowed nervously, feeling the thickness of Keith rubbing gently against the inside of his thigh.  “Are you ready?”

Shiro inhaled shakily, eyes flicking up to Keith, just a little… uncertain.

“Be… careful?” he asked hoarsely, feeling like a fool for how shy he suddenly was.

“Sure.”  Keith lifted his clean hand to Shiro’s face, cupping his cheek gently, and the softness of his expression left Shiro’s chest melting.  “Hey, you don’t have to be nervous.  It’s my job to make sure you feel good, right?  I _want_ to make you feel good.”

Shiro laughed, more than a bit wryly.  “Can’t really help it.  I haven’t…”  He’d thought there would be time to talk about this, but he’d jumped Keith at the first hint of alpha scent.  His own damn fault, of course.

But Keith waited patiently, and Shiro didn’t miss the slow release of pheromones with calming tones to them as a thumb rubbed gently over Shiro’s neck.

He took another deep breath, feeling a little better.  “It’s my first time.”

There was a short beat of silence between them.

“You serious?”

Oh, god.  Shiro had fucked up.  He could feel his cheeks burning.

“…Yeah.”

“Huh.”  But Keith didn’t look angry, only like he was turning it over in his mind.  Once processed, he nodded.

“Then we should try to make it special, right?”

Forget burning before; he knew he had to be outright crimson, now.  And the lust building in his stomach hadn’t gone away.

“You wanna make it special?” he croaked, grinding forward, soaking Keith’s thigh.

“’Course.  It’s kind of an honor that you’re letting me be here for that.”  With a small smile, Keith took Shiro’s hips in his hands and lifted, sliding Shiro up and grinding his own length into Shiro’s skin.

Shiro shuddered violently at the sensation, throwing his head back and moaning, all thoughts of embarrassment fleeing his head.  “God, _god_ , please… I need… need you to…”

Keith pulled back, and Shiro felt the tip at his cunt.

“Breathe in,” he said, and in the moment that Shiro had to blink up at him, he could see Keith grinning.

And Shiro tried, but then Keith pushed home.  His breath caught, Keith’s cock filling him, stretching him, and his legs kicked outward in shock at how _amazing_ it felt.

“God—!” he yelped, letting out a desperate sob, thrusting his hips up demandingly until Keith was buried fully, the weight of Keith’s balls against Shiro’s ass.  Keith groaned long and loud, curling over Shiro and biting his lip.

“Yesss.  You feel _amazing._ ”

“Oh my god,” Shiro repeated, tilting his head up pleadingly, relishing in the slightest twinge of pain at being filled like this.  “Please, _please_ , fuck me—knot me—breed me—”

Keith leaned down and obliged Shiro with a kiss, and between his thighs, Shiro could feel him pull back gently, then snap forward.

Shiro continued to kiss him frantically, lifting his hips to meet the thrust.  “Please, god, _please!_ ” he whined, moaning as Keith practically bent him in half.  “You’re… you’re so big, you feel…”

Keith growled in clear satisfaction, taking more and moving unapologetically.  Shiro hazily felt thumbs smoothing over the skin of his thighs.

“That’s it,” Keith whispered as Shiro tightened around him.  “Open up for me.  Uhn, _yes_ , good boy.”

Shiro let out a strangled sob at the praise.  “ _Please_ ,” he sobbed again, continuing to grind forward.  “Harder.  I want your knot…”

He trailed off with a noise that was almost a gargle, and the heady scent of alpha sent him spiraling into a pit of ecstasy.

He felt Keith gasp into his skin.  “Think you can take it already?” Keith teased breathlessly, the words sending a spark of near-madness through Shiro.  “Greedy for it.”  Every time Keith drove forward, his thighs collided with Shiro’s, and Shiro relished the burn between them.  Before he could respond, Keith slid a palm over Shiro’s stomach, pressing down, and Shiro could feel the thick cock inside of him pressing against the hand.  He let out a keening sound at the pressure on his stomach, the sensation absolutely filthy, grinding down once again.

“Don’t know,” he finally managed to groan.  “Wanna try.”  He twined his arms around Keith’s neck, yanking him down for another desperate kiss.

Keith moaned into Shiro’s mouth, bucking in frantic little thrusts, skin hot against Shiro’s.  It was almost too fast: something inside Shiro wanted to stay here with Keith and see where they could go, what they could do—

But then Shiro felt something inside him clench down around Keith, and something of Keith’s started to grow.  Each thrust brought with it a new, transcendent sensation of slight resistance that pulled at him, filled him—

_There._

Some deep instinct inside of him had him thrusting his hips forward again, sliding in and off the thickness, tightening around it, trying to coax it to grow even larger in the desperate hope of being fucked by the impossible stretch.

He licked into Keith’s mouth, begging.

And god, did Keith oblige him.  He slipped in and out despite the growing knot, expanding to fill Shiro deliciously with every movement.  It was a perfect pressure, and Shiro distantly heard Keith cry out.  When his eyes managed to flicker open, he spotted sweat beading on Keith’s temples, his mouth open, as he finally started to catch his knot on Shiro’s rim.

“ _Yes_ ,” Shiro managed to gasp out, and he sagged back, lifting his hips, letting himself be fucked by the knot, relishing in the way it split him open, the way his body closed around it, a thing of ecstasy.

Keith’s knot grew and grew, swelling until it hit a just-shy-of-painful perfection.  Shiro could feel him shaking above, still bucking in short, sharp thrusts, eyes glazed over as he chased his own pleasure, grinding hard into Shiro’s body and gasping raggedly.

“More,” Shiro pleaded, looking up and meeting Keith’s eyes with desperate lust in his own.  The knot slid out, then in again, and god, why hadn’t Shiro done this before?  Is this what he had been avoiding, all these years?

He arched up into Keith, dimly aware that he was putting himself on display, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.  Keith reached down and slid his hands under the arch of Shiro’s back, holding him there, and Shiro could _feel_ the burning prickle of eyes on him.

The finesse from earlier had grown instead short and sloppy, but to know that he had made Keith desperate enough for that drove Shiro even madder.  Keith gripped Shiro hard, as if it were the only thing he could do, and fucked forward.

“Shiro, I’m almost—I’m gonna come—”

“Please,” Shiro begged, wild with instinct, with the need to be bred.  “Fill me up, I need you, _please!_ ”

Keith’s fingernails dug into the meat of Shiro’s thighs, and his mouth dropped open in silently screaming worship as he gave his last thrust forward.

And then a hot, rushing warmth filled Shiro, Keith stiffening above him.  Shiro jerked again, body contracting around Keith, milking him for everything it could.  He’d never been filled like this before, to filthy excess, and he thought distantly that he could get used to it…

And then his body had its own orgasm, rocking through him, leaving him shaking and gasping and sobbing.  He heard a scream and realized—that was him.  The pleasure tore through him with an unexpected violence, and Shiro scrambled for every last bit of it, reality seeming to go white around him.

He came to, slowly, and he could feel himself shivering.  Though his eyes were closed, he could feel lips ghosting across his skin, and he let out little whimpers, sinking into the blissful afterglow.

_Wow._


	3. Chapter 3

Keith was still half-convinced this was a fucking fever dream.

The suspicion had developed right around the time he had considered leaving earlier, right around the time he realized under the antibacterial cleaning fluid and latex glove smell, the scent of omega had been steadily growing.

Because there was no way.  No _way._

He’d managed to get through everything without being a total disaster, despite his certainty that this Adonis would never want a tiny weed instead of a hulking alpha.  He’d expected Shiro to politely look over the paperwork and then excuse himself to ask for someone better.

But Shiro had signed before barely skimming, and _eagerly_ , unless Keith’s eyes had been playing tricks on him.  And Keith—well, he had stopped caring a long time ago about family history and whether or not someone liked football.  The doctors would stop them if there were a health risk, and the rest was just money.

Money and biceps as wide as Keith’s goddamn _thigh._  And then the lace of pheromones had drawn him to Shiro’s side on the couch.

And then the compatibility had come up, Shiro a radiating beacon of warmth next to him.  Keith hadn’t mentioned that usually couples with over seventy percent would date.  Most of the time, they never came back except to proudly show off huge, sparkling rings or snotty babies.

Keith didn’t want to think about that.

But Shiro had let Keith scent him.  Not that that meant anything in itself—Keith didn’t get as far as he had in the Initiative by counting every omega he marked as a success.  He’d met omegas who didn’t even know where their own scent glands were, or what they were for.  Before his training at the Institute, Keith never would have known either.

But god, did he throw himself into it for Shiro.

And with pheromones bursting into the room, Keith had even found himself puffing up a little.  He wanted to present to Shiro, to be chosen.  He had forgotten for a moment that this was a contract they’d both agreed to, and gotten lost in making sure he rubbed Shiro in exactly the way he needed.

Keith’s usual aphrodisiac had sat in a little paper cup on the table, ignored.  He’d known he wouldn’t need it.

And he’d been right.  He’d thought he was dead and in heaven, lightly bronzed skin displayed vast and beautiful before him.  If it weren’t one hundred percent illegal, he would have taken a picture of Shiro like that, flushed and begging and spreading for him.

He’d gotten caught up in the whirlwind of Shiro’s enthusiasm, enchanted by it, flattered and kind of embarrassed to be so brazenly wanted.  It had been bliss to rut against Shiro, to _knot_ Shiro, to hold his hands under that delicious back, holding him in that perfect shape and indulging in how looking at him made Keith’s stomach drop with want, the taste of orgasm on his tongue.  He’d wanted to fill Shiro to the brim.  He’d wanted to leave his _mark._

Of all the sex he’d had before this, both in and out of the breeding center, he’d never wanted to claim an omega like this.

He’d come hard, hard enough that it didn’t seem to stop, pouring out of him and draining him dry.  Pleasure had wrung his every limb until he had grown string-taut, and then he’d breathed in the scent of Shiro below him and each muscle liquefied.

And when he came back to himself, Shiro was still there.  And Keith, near as he could tell, was still awake.

He groaned, giving in to the urge to nuzzle Shiro, covering him in Keith’s scent once again.  Some primal part of his brain insisted on making sure that _everyone_ knew what they’d done together.  Locked inside Shiro’s heat and loving every moment, he peppered kisses down the side of his face, waiting for him to come back around.  Even as he flooded the room with his scent, Shiro’s filtered through, sending thrilled shivers down Keith’s spine.

Which was weird.  Keith had dealt with more than his fair share of heats.  Normally it was just a pleasant scent, the kind of thing everyone agreed smelled pretty okay.  Like Vanilla.

But breathing felt like a lasso around him, dragging him in.

He found a position where they could both slump happily, tucking his head under Shiro’s chin.  He’d never imagined feeling this satisfied after a fuck; it was simple to get lost in the simple ease of it, running his fingers lightly over Shiro’s skin.

Shiro finally managed to make a noise, whining softly and burying his nose into Keith’s hair, inhaling and shivering.  “You smell so good,” he slurred, wrapping around Keith like a goddamn octopus.

Keith hummed, satisfaction growing as he nosed into Shiro’s neck.  “You smell pretty great yourself.  I wanna take a bite out of you,” he murmured absently.

“You’re always welcome to.”  Through the hazy words, however, it was clear that Shiro didn’t know exactly what that offer sounded like.  Keith laughed softly.  Wouldn’t that be nice?

But no.  Maybe for other people.  Not for Keith.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.  You happy with your first time?”

“Mmm,” Shiro hummed, nosing more into Keith.  “Was wonderful.  Should do this again.”

Keith puffed with pride.  “Maybe we will.  If you put me down as your preference, they’ll add you to my permanent rotation.  Uh, you know.  If you want to.”

Shiro laughed breathlessly.  “I want to.”  He shifted a little underneath Keith, clearly trying to get comfortable.  “Did we… I’m not sure… I’m Shiro, by the way.  Not Shirogane.”

Keith snorted gently, trying not to smirk with glee.  “I know.”  He shifted down, crossing his arms over Shiro’s big chest and leaning his chin on them.  It gave him a great view of the blush across Shiro’s cheeks.  “Was it so good you forgot we did that already?”

Shiro winced as he came down, just a little, turning away in an attempt to hide his face in his shoulder.  “…Right.  Sorry.”

Keith watched him for a moment, partly amused—in Shiro’s defense, they did hop to it very quickly without much introduction—but also feeling that inner pull to make Shiro comfortable again.  He stretched to press a kiss above Shiro’s heart.

“Hi Shiro, I’m Keith, and that was pretty mindblowing, huh?”

Shiro groaned a little, reality clearly catching up to him.  “Hi, Keith.  Yeah, that was pretty great.”

“It’s not usually as… much as that.  I’m sorry if I got carried away.”

“Why the hell would you be sorry?” Shiro laughed breathlessly.

“I got a bit too into it.  You’re… kind of perfect for me,” Keith admitted sheepishly.

“Oh.”  God, that fucking blush was going to be the death of Keith.  “Really?”

Keith nodded sharply.  “I thought I was dreaming when you walked in,” he admitted.

Shiro laughed self-consciously.  A guy like _that._  Self-conscious.  But he could understand; by omega standards, Keith knows that he’s gorgeous.  But stick him into an alpha’s shoes…

“You already had sex with me.  You don’t have to work your way into my pants.”

“Someone needs to tell you how hot you are.  You can’t just walk around like that without a warning on you, you know; it’s a hazard.”

Shiro scoffed, but he was grinning.  “You’re the most ridiculous person I have ever met.”

“I like to be memorable,” Keith joked.  It wasn’t true, but something about Shiro put Keith at such ease, and for some reason, he _did_ kind of want Shiro to remember him.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that.”

A slow smile curved across Keith’s face, and he shifted up to kiss Shiro, lazy and slow.  Effortless affection that he usually avoided like the plague after one of these sessions.  Normally, he liked it when his partner brought a magazine and they ignored each other as much as possible.

And Shiro moaned into it, pressing up against him fondly, and Keith enjoyed the unfamiliar pleasure of being next to someone.  They lay there, twined together, sated and tired.

Dozing next to Shiro was dangerously easy.  Keith was warm, and satisfied, and as he drifted in and out of sleep, he chuffed happily in the back of his throat before he could stop it.

He shocked himself back to wakefulness with the awkwardness of it.  It wasn’t a sound he should make with an omega he’d fucked without a bond, and from the sleepy expression on Shiro’s face, Keith had woken him, too.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, bright red and mortified.

“What?  That—what?” he asked, voice cracked with sleep but no less alarmed.

“I, um.  Nothing.  I just—nothing.”  Keith’s blush climbed.

Shiro swallowed, and Keith’s eyes locked onto the muscles of that perfect throat as Shiro seemed to pull himself back to his senses.  “What’s the matter?”

“…I chuffed a little bit.  Just once!  I wasn’t thinking—sorry.  It’s—sorry.”

“So?” Shiro murmured, still blinking sleepily.  “Felt good.”

Keith swallowed.  “It’s okay?” he asked, with a tinge of wonder.  “You don’t mind?”

“’Course not.  Why would I?”

Keith’s smile came unbidden.  There was something so pure and genuine about Shiro.  It filled him with something bright.  “I didn’t want to cross a line.”

Shiro blinked dazedly over at Keith, a little more out of it than he had been a moment ago, and Keith wondered if he wanted to go back to sleep.  “Uh… um.  Don’t worry about me.”

“Is it okay to do it again?” Keith asked hopefully.  There was an urge in him, an itch that needed to be scratched, and he knew it would feel good, feel warm and right, to give in to it.

Shiro’s mouth spread into a grin, stealing the breath from Keith’s lungs.  “We have this place as long as we want, they told me.”

This time, Keith went red all the way to his ears.  “I meant chuffing,” he blurted, but then realized the opportunity he was missing out on.  “But that!  I would like to do this again, too.  That was—you’re really great.”

“All you meant was chuffing?” Shiro teased, and the smug side coming out now wasn’t _fair._  “Yeah, okay.”

“Oh my god; I’m meant to be the cool one here.”  Keith snorted a laugh and hid his face in Shiro’s chest.

But he couldn’t help chuffing again, a short sound of happy ownership, and after a moment, he lifted his head from the safety of Shiro’s chest to scent him again.

He hadn’t expected Shiro to catch his mouth as he looked up, hadn’t expected to be kissed this deeply, almost demandingly, to be pulled closer.  Keith found kissing difficult with a smile as wide as his was, but he gave as good as he got, mapping out Shiro’s mouth and cataloguing what made him squirm.

Shiro made a happy noise, pressing up against Keith and humming into his mouth, and Keith savored the taste of it.  “I… you’re pretty great, too.”

Keith snorted, kissing back, then murmuring against Shiro’s lips, “Sure that’s not the endorphins talking there, big guy?”

A flush crept across Shiro’s cheeks as quickly as he had shifted to smug, and he buried his face in Keith’s neck.  “It’s not!”

Keith only petted his head indulgently, wondering how a mountain of a man could shift from sexy to goddamn adorable in less than a second.  “Okay, okay.  I’m sorry.  That’s nice of you to say.”

Shiro snorted.  “Sorry.  I’m… not used to all this.”

Keith hummed, continuing to pet.  He understood, sort of.  “I meant it, you know.  You are pretty great.  And also just… pretty.  So pretty.”

Shiro let out a bark of laughter, a mix between delight and embarrassment.  “You’re one to talk!”  At that, he buried his face deeper into Keith’s neck, inhaling.

“If you could see yourself.”  Keith smiled indulgently, staring at the pattern on the headboard.

Shiro made a noise of protest, shifting underneath him, then nipped at Keith’s neck.  Keith gasped softly at the hint of pain, shivering.  “How long does this usually take?”

Right.  Knot.  Well.  “…Uh.  It’s not usually this long.”  Keith could feel his ears beginning to burn.  “I guess it’s because you were so… receptive.  Maybe a few minutes.”

Shiro laughed, clearly embarrassed.  “Okay.  I think I… need a second.”

“Whatever you need,” Keith promised immediately.

“When you’re out, I mean.”

“Sure, I don’t mind waiting.”

Keith nuzzled his shoulder gently, trailing fingers over skin in ticklish circles, enjoying the way that Shiro shivered at the contact, relaxing.  It took several more minutes, but eventually, he could feel himself starting to shrink down again.

He pulled free gently, smoothing hands over Shiro’s hips and easing him back onto the bed.  Then he rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling, skin buzzing.

Wow.

Next to him, Shiro shifted, hummed, then turned to press into him.

“How are you feeling?”

“Amazing.  Insane.  Insanely amazing.  How about you?”  Keith turned his head to watch Shiro luxuriate against the pillows.

Shiro let out a delighted laugh, tossing a casual arm around Keith’s waist and kissing at his cheek fondly.  “That was fantastic.  Is it always like that?”

“Not always.  I can’t believe a virgin just blew my mind so completely.”  Keith reached down for his hand and threaded their fingers together.

“Oh god, don’t remind me.”  Shiro squeezed back, even as he buried his face in Keith’s shoulder.

“Well, not anymore.  Right?”  Keith brought up an arm to hold him.

“I’m glad.”  With a stroke of boldness, Shiro leaned in and bit Keith’s ear.  Keith gasped in a little breath.

“I thought you needed a second?” he asked playfully.

“I’m just nibbling,” Shiro hummed.

“I’m not a snack!”  Keith laughed, pulling a face.

“Yes, you are,” Shiro said lowly, pressing a hand to Keith’s abdomen.  Keith’s belly dipped and shivered under the touch.

“What does that even mean?” he muttered.

A snort.  “You’ve never heard the term?  Calling someone handsome a snack?”

Well, of course _Shiro_ was familiar with the term.  He probably got called it on a daily basis.  “I guess.  Maybe.  I never really got good at… the flirting thing.”  He shifted a little under the lingering touch, Shiro’s scent curling in his blood even though they had just finished.

“It just means they look delicious.”  Shiro nuzzled at Keith’s ear, and the fucker was _clearly_ enjoying the effect he was having.

But Keith could give back as good as he got.

“And that’s why you’re trying to take a bite out of me?”  He slid a hand up Shiro’s spine, then rubbed at the swollen glands on the back of the neck.

This, of course, only caused Shiro to laugh delightedly.  “I’m sure you’d taste amazing.”

And with that, he headed straight for Keith’s neck.

Keith tilted his head to allow him unfettered access, indulging in the feel of that hot mouth against his skin, the nips and licks and sucks that left his toes curling.  He was going to have several hickeys tomorrow, and he’d wear them proudly.

“Mm, baby, it’s not fair that you’re so good at that with no practice.”

Shiro laughed against Keith’s wet skin, licking gently.  “Oh, I’ve had practice _kissing._ ”

Kissing Shiro without ever getting to touch him seemed like it would be torture.  “You should give me a few pointers, then.  A demonstration or… five.”

“You don’t have experience with it?   _You?_ ”  Keith could hear the wicked grin in Shiro’s voice as he mouthed at Keith’s jaw, and he flushed.

“Don’t usually kiss at the Institute,” he mumbled.

Shiro froze, and the faint hint of mortified omega trickled between them.  He pulled back slightly.  “Uh, is it rude?”

Keith’s eyes snapped to Shiro in surprise.  “What?  No!  No, not unless you didn’t want me to.  I just don’t usually.  You, um.  I guess I just… wanted to?  With you?”

Shiro’s throat bobbed in a swallow, and Keith admired the flush returning to his face.  “I guess I’m flattered.  He cleared his throat and glanced away, and a beat of silence rang between them.

“Wasn’t… your list, of things you didn’t want to do, didn’t you have on it…”

Keith immediately remembered his tongue in _other_ places, and swallowed as well.  “It’s on my ‘maybe’ list.  Sometimes it’s the best way to calm someone down, but most of the time it’s too… close.  Feels weird.”

“Oh,” Shiro said quietly.  “Well, thank you.  Is this another thing that you don’t… usually do, but with me…?”

Keith snorted.  “I guess.  It just feels right.  With you.”

Was that weird?  No.  It was just… a preference thing.  It had to be.

“I’m definitely not complaining.”  Relaxing, Shiro chuckled and tossed a leg idly over Keith’s.  Keith instinctively brought up a hand to run it down the back of Shiro’s thigh.

“Does that mean I can kiss you more?”

Shiro shivered, eyes gleaming, and Keith bit his own lip.  “Yeah, you definitely should.”

Keith started at the collarbone, generous with his affection, lavishing Shiro’s neck with kisses.  In turn, Shiro dragged his nails gently up Keith’s back, humming blissfully.

“Oh, that’s good.”

Keith didn’t let up, hurling himself into it with full vigor.  He licked over the hot glands, trying to ignore how his mouth salivated at the idea of biting down, even as Shiro moaned loudly, arching forward and gasping.

“God, _god._  More, please—”

“You’re so sensitive,” Keith murmured into his neck.

“You’re _teasing_ ,” Shiro accused, turning his head to press into the side of Keith’s.  “Use your teeth, you coward.”

Keith nosed to the front of Shiro’s neck, dragging his incisors and relishing the way Shiro shuddered underneath him.  “You’re getting kind of bratty,” he lilted.

Shiro snorted, scowling even as he shuddered.  “I am _not._ ”

“Then maybe you could ask nicely…”  Keith’s hand crawled down to Shiro’s dick, and he palmed it gently, drawing forth a groan.

“Are you serious right now?”

“I’m _always_ serious,” Keith asserted, squeezing the fullness, just on the inside of painful.  He had a feeling Shiro would like that.

And with Shiro’s soft yelp, his eyes wide, and his “ _Keith!_ ”, Keith decided that he had been right.  His grin spread wide against Shiro’s skin, and he only gave Shiro a second before he let go and plunged fingers into Shiro’s wet, welcoming heat.

The gasp from Shiro’s lips sang through Keith’s bones, and Keith could get addicted to the way he arched into having things inside him, how he dripped at the slightest intrusion.  “Shit,” Shiro panted, expression one of a man who was barely there.  “M-more, please…”

“Is the break over, then?” Keith asked smoothly, trying not to look too pleased at the thought that he was now the one flustering Shiro.

“Yes!” Shiro insisted, eyes glazing over.  “We’re supposed to do this, right?”

“Yeah, sacred duty and all that.”  Keith’s fingers didn’t stop.  The noises and the way Shiro moved were all small forms of torture when Keith wasn’t fucking him.  Shiro shifted against him, and Keith couldn’t stop the groan at that sudden contact.  “Lift up, okay?  You’re driving me crazy.  I need to be inside you again.”

Shiro made a noise akin to a dying man finally being allowed water, and he spread his thighs immediately, a wanton display of filthy, dripping slick.

Christ.  Keith’s eyes lapped it up, suddenly able to relate to Shiro’s thirst, and he dragged his gaze across those perfect pecs, that muscled abdomen, Shiro’s flushed cock, a bit smaller than Keith’s and overwhelmingly enticing.

Keith would enjoy licking it later.

And below that, Shiro’s cunt, the folds shiny and slick, open for him.

(He let himself indulge for just a moment, the puckered skin beyond that, and a spark of yearning flitted through him, but that would never happen.  Their job was to make babies, after all.)

Keith grabbed himself and aimed clumsily, but it took nothing to slip inside Shiro: his body already knew Keith’s shape and welcomed him back in a hot, easy glide, even as Shiro stayed lifted on his knees above him.

“Sit,” Keith ordered, voice thick.

Shiro let out a choking cry, tightening around Keith.  “W-what?”

Keith wondered if he was going to come just from the wobble in Shiro’s voice.

Keith dipped in and out shallowly, hips dropping back to the bed, barely brushing Shiro’s folds.  He pitched his voice in a way he usually didn’t, commanding and almost harsh.

“I told you to sit.”

The authoritative tone in his voice left something flickering through Shiro’s expression, and Shiro scrambled forward, gripping Keith’s shoulders and pushing him back until they touched the sheets.  Settling a thigh on both sides of Keith’s waist, he sank down with a groan, eyes screwing shut.

Keith’s head dropped back, mouth open as he breathed heavily.  He wanted to enjoy the sight of Shiro above him, but he needed… a moment.  “Yeah, like that.”

“Oh god,” Shiro panted, rippling around Keith, shuddering and tightening.  “That’s… god, you’re huge.”

“And you love it.”  Keith grinned at the ceiling like a madman, even as Shiro began to ride him hard enough for the mattress to start to shake.

“I—yes, I do.”  Shiro made a sad, desperate noise, leaning forward to bury his face in Keith’s shoulder.  “Holy shit.”  He ground down with a little more force, then more, then more.  Keith had never seen someone more desperate for a knot, and Keith wanted to fill him with more than Shiro could take, and distantly, he wondered if Shiro was going to break Keith’s hips.  Keith was trapped underneath them, being swallowed again and again before he even had time to process the pleasure.  He bit his lip nearly hard enough to bleed and tried to thrust up in time with Shiro’s movements, grabbing for Shiro any way he could, fingers scrabbling up Shiro’s thighs and dragging him back down with brutal force.

Shiro gasped helplessly as he impaled himself on Keith’s cock, and Keith took in the sight of that beautiful face, mouth half-open, eyes half-closed.

Shiro’s noises filled the ear, crooning, babbling, gasping— _“S-so—so big—God, I just… I wanna feel you forever, want you to leave your mark”_ —and his fingers curled into Keith’s hair.

Keith decided, right then and there, that he was in heaven.


	4. Chapter 4

Hours later, Shiro lay on his back, panting gleefully, out of breath and dizzy and blissful.

He rubbed his hand on his abdomen, remembering their purpose here.  But he’d enjoyed himself, for sure.

“Wow,” he breathed.

Keith was a mess.  Shiro was a mess.  The bed was a goddamn battlefield.

“Yeah.  Wow.”  Keith raked back matted hair from his eyes, then looked to Shiro.

“All due respect, I really hope you’re not pregnant.”

Shiro froze, eyes wide.  The words… stung.  It was the same thing that he’d gotten for years, about being not quite the right material for an omega.  But he’d thought, he’d really thought…

As Shiro watched, Keith turned to him, took in Shiro’s expression, and then winced.  “No!  Sorry, I just meant that I… you know, want to be able to do this again.  I hope… you come back.”  He cleared his throat, and as Shiro’s chest settled with relief, he couldn’t help observing that Keith was still adorable when flustered.  “It was stupid.  Forget it.”

“No, no,” Shiro stammered, head spinning with relief.  “No, I get it.  I’ll definitely be back.”  In retrospect, of course Keith had meant that.  He felt even stupider for not realizing.

“Will you… ask for me?  I’ll ask for you.”

The vulnerability in Keith’s expression caught in Shiro’s throat as he inhaled.  “Of course!”  He shifted forward, grinning.  “Do they usually grant it?”

“Yeah, if they can.  We have such a high compatibility rate, they probably expect us to elope right now.  To be honest, I’ve never felt so comfortable, or so…”  Shiro admired the slight blush on Keith’s cheeks.  Shiro thought he understood, but there really wasn’t a way to say “horny” elegantly.  “You make it feel different.”

Shiro laughed in delight.  “Yeah?  So it’s not usually like this?  I can’t believe I waited so long, really.”

“No, not always.  It can be good, but—I don’t mean to get all mushy or anything, but honestly, it’s never been like that for me before.”

Shiro knew, now, that Keith wasn’t the only one blushing, but the burn in his cheeks was pleasant.  “What, are you talking soulmates and stuff?” he teased.  That was the stuff you only ever found in cheesy romance novels, but even as he said it, he wondered.

Keith shrugged.  “I don’t really believe in all that.  But… I think you’re special.”

Shiro hummed wistfully.  It was a nice thought, and he’d like to indulge in it more, but he wouldn’t push.  “Yeah?”

Keith nodded resolutely.  “I think… would you like to—I mean, this is a bad time to ask, and you can totally say no.  But if you wanted to…”

Shiro blinked, a little confused.  They’d already discussed this, right?  “What?  I definitely would love to see you again.”

“But outside the Institute?  We could go somewhere.”

Shiro hesitated.  Was that allowed?  “Like what?”

“A museum, maybe.  Or a café.  I… what do you like?”

Keith was bright red now, and speaking directly to the duvet cover.  As Shiro watched him, the realization dawned.

“A museum might be cool,” he laughed softly.

Keith tightened his grip on the sheets, looking up at Shiro from under his dark hair.  “Really?”

“Yeah.  I’ve got classes and an internship, though.  So it could be a while.”

“Oh.”  Keith looked at the bed again, and for the first time, Shiro cursed his inability to keep up more of a social life.  “Yeah, of course.  You know, whenever is fine.  I’ll be here.”

“You live here?” Shiro teased, voice dry.

“No.  Close, ish.  But I come in every day.”

“Oh.”  That… made sense.  Shiro hadn’t really thought about the expectations that might be on an alpha.  Shiro only had to come in until he conceived, and then he was free for nine months.  Then a bit of time for adoption, and then he would have to come in for a little while again.  But alphas didn’t get that.  He leaned in to kiss Keith’s cheek.  “Well, I’ll see you next time I’m able to, then, definitely.”

“Right.  Okay.”  Keith inhaled, then leaned in to kiss Shiro’s cheek in return.  “We should get you dressed before Doctor Hunk comes back.”

Shiro moaned, displeased, and shifted forward, wrapping around him possessively.  “Do you have to go?  I’m free all day.”

“If you stay too long and imprint, then there will be trouble,” Keith warned, but there didn’t seem to be any heat to it, especially not as he leaned back with Shiro in his arms.

“They _said_ we were allowed to stay the night, if we wanted.  In orientation.”  Shiro kind of hated how much he sounded like he was whining right now, but he hated the thought of leaving more.

“Okay, okay.  My schedule is free, too.  We can stay.”  The side of Keith’s mouth curved up, and Shiro let out a gleeful noise, kissing his jaw.

“I’m glad.”

“Good.  We said this would be good for your first time, right?  Have to make it count.”

 “It was fantastic,” Shiro hummed.  A few moments of comfortable silence, and then he continued.  “If I do… y’know, if I am, I want it to be you.”

Keith turned to offer him a teasing grin.  “You’ve got good taste.”  At Shiro’s confused expression, he continued.  “I’m pretty strong.  No family medical surprises, and naturally immune to TB.  They’ll probably have a lot of hair, too.  Some parents are really excited about that for some reason.  You didn’t look at the stats much, but… most of my ‘kids’ are doing really great.”

Shiro pressed up against his side.  He hadn’t planned on raising his children, instead intending to allow one of the many, many interested individuals (or couples, or more) to adopt.  After all, he had classes and an internship and—

But domestic fantasies wouldn’t stop flitting through his head, and he smiled softly.

“You see them a lot?”

“Some of them.  The ones who live close enough.  I send letters to some of them—I think the oldest ones are five?—and the others I just get updates from the parents.  It’s up to them in the end.  But… I like to know that they’re okay.  That they have someone who loves them.”

“That’s really sweet of you.”  He swallows, heart twisting.  “Now I really hope it’s you.”

Keith laughed sheepishly, turning away.  “It doesn’t matter that much.  As long as they have someone to keep them on the right path, whoever their dad was is just biology, right?”

Shiro leaned forward, nosing gently at Keith’s ear.  “I think it can matter if you want it to.  My dad means a lot to me.”

Keith shakes his head.  “I don’t know about your dad.  But for me… if a parent isn’t there when you need them, then they don’t get to be called a parent anymore.”

“I…”  Shiro shrugged a little awkwardly.  He wasn’t sure he agreed, but neither did he really want to argue this with someone he just met.

Instead, he just kissed Keith again.  Though he could taste the hesitation, just for a moment, Keith eventually relaxed, opening under Shiro’s touch instead.

“Any idea what time it is?” Shiro hummed, smoothing a hand over Keith’s chest.

Keith turned, struggling for the clock on the bedside, flicking on the holo display and blatantly using it as an excuse to pull Shiro closer.  Shiro allowed it to happen, grinning softly in the light.  It read six.

He hummed, manhandling Keith deliberately, shifting him around so he was the little spoon.  Keith allowed it to happen, and Shiro wrapped around him, satisfied.  “We’ve been at it for a while, huh?” he laughed.

“Y-yeah,” Keith stammered.  “But you feel okay, right?  I don’t need to get any ointment from the doctor or anything?”

“Ointment?” Shiro laughed, burying his face in the soft hair at the base of Keith’s neck.  “For what?”

“I… don’t know.  We did a lot.  I don’t know if anything hurts.”

“Nope,” Shiro replied cheerfully, popping his lips at the end of the word.  “Down from the injection, though, so might take a little bit before we can go again.”

He could feel Keith relax at that.  “You took my knot three times.”

“Yeah, and I can do it three more.”  He couldn’t stop himself from grinning wickedly, almost manically, heart pounding with excitement, still buzzing at the sensation of being well-used.

—

Three times.  Three _more_ times.  Keith shifted, trying not to think about that too much.  “You’re insatiable.”

Shiro kissed the back of his neck.  “Your fault.”

Keith laughed, but let his head fall forward.  “Flatterer.”

“Didn’t you spend like an hour earlier waxing on about how hazardous my attractiveness is?”

“It wasn’t an _hour,_ ” Keith pouted.

“Thereabouts.”  Shiro snuggled closer, and even though it embarrassed him, Keith found his heart starting to beat hard.  So much muscle behind him, someone just… holding him.

That had never happened before.

In reality, Keith really didn’t want to move.  The sensation of being cradled was brand new, tinged with a kind of bitter sweetness that made Keith’s heart hurt.

He had lost himself in his thoughts so much that the next words nearly startled him.

“Do you wanna watch TV or something?”

“Um, sure?”  Keith had never done that.  Usually people left.  Awkwardly.  Usually he dropped conversation and made an ass of himself and they found a way to get the hell out of the room.

“I… dunno,” Shiro said, sounding a little embarrassed.  “I’ve never been here before.  What do people usually do while… recharging?”

“Well, usually they just leave when the drug wears off.”

It wasn’t strictly true.  Plenty of casual couples took advantage of the accommodations, spending hours mating and the downtime between indulging in idle recreation.  But not Keith.

“Oh.”  Shiro shifted behind him.  “I’m okay to stay, though?”

Keith pulled Shiro’s arm tighter around himself, heart doing a funny little flip.  “Yeah,” he said quietly.  “I’d like that.”

Shiro squeezed back.  “So just tell me what you wanna do.”

Keith’s shoulders tensed.  This was the hard bit.  The bit where he had to somehow convince someone that he was worth spending time with.  He’d tried conversation; people never liked conversations with him.  He didn’t know how to get that easy connection with others.  He didn’t know the _rules._  He’d lucked out, not having to interview with Shiro, but that luck was coming to an end.

And this wasn’t just anyone.  Shiro stopped being “people” hours ago.  Shiro was different.

“TV is fine.  What do you like to watch?”

“Mmm.  Anything with science fiction.”

“You’re a nerd, huh?” Keith shot back with amusement, reaching for the remote and clawing it over to them.

Shiro drew back a little, huffing.  “I’m not—I am not a nerd!  I’m in a fraternity!”

Keith laughed, but then it died, amusement fading into something empty.  A frat house seemed about right.  Shiro was a cool kid, maybe a party kind of guy?  Probably sports.  And since he was at university, he was probably smart, too.

No wonder he’d dodged Keith’s request for a date.

Still, he would enjoy this while he could.

“Okay.  So a cool nerd.”

Shiro tickled idly at Keith’s stomach, and it shuddered under the fingertips.  “I’m pretty cool.  And you’d better remember it.”

Keith snorted.  “Yessir.  I won’t forget again.

Shiro froze behind Keith, and for just a moment, Keith was terrified he’d done something wrong.

“Kinda surprised you went along with that,” Shiro murmured.

What?  Keith twisted a little, turning to look over his shoulder.  “Went along with what?”

“Y’know,” Shiro murmured.  “Listening.”

Just the yessir, then?  “Maybe you’re just someone I feel like listening to,” Keith said absently, lifting the remote to Shiro.

“And why’s that?”  Shiro accepted it delicately, like a treasure.  Keith shivered just a bit.

“I already told you,” Keith replied, feeling vulnerable even though this was information he had already volunteered to Shiro.  “It’s because you’re special.”

“Oh.  Right.”  Shiro laughed nervously, and Keith wanted to cringe.  He needed to stop pushing this.  He replayed their conversation in his head, over and over, with Shiro politely giving him a noncommittal answer, murmuring something about school or whatever.  His fingers clenched in the sheets as Shiro turned on the TV.  “What sort of shows do you like?  I probably should have read that file, after all.”

Keith was quiet for a moment.  That should help, he insisted to himself.  Shiro had just wanted a fuck, didn’t even care what kind of person knocked him up.

He mumbled something.

“What was that?”

Keith cleared his throat, feeling silly.  “Wildlife shows.  Especially ones about big cats.”

Shiro laughed at that, and the gentle noise behind Keith, the rumbling against his back, was just not fair.  “We could watch the Cat from Outer Space.”

“Oh.  Sure.  I’ve never seen it.”  Keith’s face was still burning.

“Or Doraemon,” Shiro mused.

“…What?”

Keith felt vulnerably on the spot, as if Shiro expected him to… he wasn’t quite sure, actually.  Joke?  Laugh?  Was that supposed to be funny?  Keith couldn’t joke.

“What?  It’s an anime about a cat.”

“Oh.”  Keith swallowed.  “We can watch that.  I don’t mind.  Anything is good.  This is… nice.”

“I just didn’t know if you wanted cats,” Shiro teased, nuzzling into Keith’s shoulder, and Keith allowed himself another pout.

“Cats are cute.”

“Yeah, they are.”  Shiro laughed softly, and Keith’s heart hurt.  The television switched on, and Shiro flipped through the clinic’s extensive selection.  Only the best for the government’s breeders.

Keith was so warm, tucked into the crook of Shiro’s body.  He shuffled back, wedging himself tight as his traitorous mind whispered that he could get used to this.  “I always wanted a cat.”

Shiro made a noise of delight behind Keith, selecting something called “The Next Generation.”  “Why don’t you get one?”

Keith winced.  “I don’t want something to have to rely on me.  Sometimes I can’t even rely on myself.”

Shiro squeezed his hand gently, but the opening of the show immediately hooked Keith’s attention.  “This is in space?”

“Yeah, it’s Star Trek.  Ever seen it?”

“No.  Is it old?  We only had radio when I was growing up.”

“Yeah, older than I am.  Data has a cat!”

“Space _and_ cats?  I’ve been missing out.”  It had aged badly on the HD widescreen, but it wasn’t so bad if Keith just let himself go with it.

Shiro made a pleased noise, tugging in Keith tighter, which Keith hadn’t even thought possible.  “There’s tons of it.”

Keith could feel his lips curving upward.  “Oh yeah?  Now I have something to do between heats.  This is great.”

Shiro just hummed, resting his chin on Keith’s shoulder.

They got through one episode before there was a knock on the door.

“Nooo,” Keith groaned.  “I’m comfy.”

Shiro kissed the back of his shoulder.  “Want me to get it, baby?”

“No,” Keith said petulantly, trying to conceal a smile.  A lot of people got sappy after sex, but Shiro was the first one who it hadn’t really bothered Keith from.  “You _make_ me comfy.”

“So _you_ want to get it, then?” Shiro asked dryly.

Keith just pouted.

Shiro patted his butt, then pulled away, leaving Keith feeling cold and empty.  He turned slightly to watch Shiro out of the corner of his eye as he stumbled over to the clinic-issued clothes that they had left in a pile.  They’d left them both with a few sets of lounge pants and shirts, but Shiro only went for the former.  Maybe there really was a god.

Scratching sleepily at his stomach, Shiro opened the door.

“Hey there, Shiro!”  Hunk’s face beamed at them from the other side of the door.  “Just checking in.  We haven’t had an elevated heart rate from you guys in a while, so I’m just checking to see if you need anything, or if you’re finished for the day.”

“Uh, we just took a bit of a break.  We—I was hoping to, uh, hang out a while more?  Maybe overnight?”

“Well, that’s fine.  You two have this room for the whole night anyway, if you’d like it.  I can leave you to it.”

Keith poked his nose over the covers, not missing Hunk’s grin.  Shiro’s back was great to look at for a while, but now he wanted him back in the bed.

Shiro exhaled, relaxing.  “See you tom—”  But then he paused, and _fuck_ , Keith needed to stop freaking out about stupid stuff.  Shiro wasn’t going to change his mind, Keith told himself sternly.  Not tonight.  “Actually, we might need to get dinner.”

See?

“Take a pizza out of my commission.”  Keith sat up grumpily.  He leaned his chin on a palm, watching them.  “You can eat pizza, right, Shiro?  We can get something else if you want.”

“Yeah, of course.”  He turned back to face Keith, grin dazzling from over his shoulder.  “Sounds great.  Thanks.”

“Cool.  I’ll get it sent in.  Maybe put some clothes on for the pizza boy, okay?” Hunk directed the last sentence in Keith’s direction with a knowing smirk.

Keith rolled his eyes.  “Yeah, yeah.  I won’t scar the youth.”

Shiro snorted.  “They should know better at this point, shouldn’t they?  I’ll keep him in line, Dr. Garrett.”

“Thank you, Mister Shirogane.  This one’s a handful.”

Shiro scoffed a little.  “And I’m not?”  The idea of Shiro being anything but a super sweet guy was totally fucking adorable, and Keith gave Hunk the finger, grinning.  “Put half of that on my commission, too.  What toppings do you want, babe?”

Hunk’s eyes gleamed, and Keith’s widened.  “Don’t!”

“He always orders _extra sausage._  Do you know how hard it is to get a pizzeria to deliver extra sausage to a fertility institute?  Honestly.”

Keith burned red.  “It tastes good!”

Shiro let out a delighted laugh.  “God, maybe we’re not compatible after all.  I’m about to make it worse, though, sorry.”  He turned back to Hunk with a wry smile.  “Half anchovies for me.”

“Neither of you have any taste,” Keith grumbled.

“Sure, half sausage and half anchovies.  I’ll give you a buzz when it gets here, but you’ll only have a minute before it gets to your door.  So.”  Hunk made finger guns at them.

“I’ll put on some damn pants; stop griping.”

Shiro watched him leave, then turned to grin at Keith.

“There’s a story there.”

Keith hunched his shoulders, rubbing the back of his head.  “L-listen.  You can’t just leave a sensitive omega in heat, put on your pants, and open the door.  They can panic.  They think you’re leaving.  It was opening that door naked or not having pizza.  And I wanted the pizza.”

Shiro stared at Keith.  “Couldn’t you just… explain?”

“…Have you ever… I don’t want to assume or whatever.  But like, haven’t you got into the middle of your heat and just been out of it?  I see it sometimes.  And… no one deserves to feel like they’re being left alone when they’re at their most vulnerable.”

He didn’t mention that it usually happened when an omega has already been worked up by an alpha, so Shiro was less likely to have experienced it.  That, and he knew that most omegas spent their heats on suppressants.

Shiro cleared his throat.  “That’s fair.”

“It’s up to me to make sure people feel safe here.  Even if Hunk never lets me live it down.”  He fiddled with the sheets, then looked up.  “You wanna… come back to bed?”

Shiro snorted, stretching as he padded back over.  Keith’s eyes skittered down Shiro’s chest, and he didn’t try to disguise it, vaguely wondering if Shiro knew how hot he looked right now.  “Yeah, ‘course.”

Keith hoped so.  Shiro deserved to have his ego flattered.

“You look good in sweats.”

Shiro grinned slowly, and Keith didn’t miss him flexing, just a little.  “You look good in nothing.”

Keith snorted.  “What a line.”

He pushed off the covers, moving to stand.  It was easy to saunter to Shiro and hook two fingers into the waistband of the sweats.

Shiro’s eyes roamed unapologetically over Keith’s naked form.  He smirked, not moving, and now Keith’s ego was the one swelling.

Keith pulled until they were chest to chest.  Off the bed, it was apparent how much taller Shiro was, and wider too.  Keith had to stand on his toes to come nose to nose with him.

“Think we can beat the pizza guy?”

Shiro let out a bark of laughter, and he grinned, pressing their foreheads together.  “You wanna take that risk?”

“I have a reputation.  It’s basically expected of me.”  Keith’s hand dipped under the waistband, slipping between Shiro’s legs.  “And I think I should be a bad influence on you.”

Keith kept his eyes fixed on that gorgeous face as Shiro bit his lip, closing his eyes and groaning as he ground down on Keith’s hand.  The slickness of Shiro and Keith’s last coupling soaked Keith’s hand.  “Bad boy, huh?  God, you’re awful.”  But the tone in Shiro’s voice told Keith exactly how he felt about bad boys.

“Yessir.  The worst.”  He grinned savagely, then curled all his fingers so that each one dipped just inside Shiro in turn.

Shiro hissed, gripping Keith’s shoulders and pushing him back towards the bed.  “Maybe they just hoped I’d be a good influence on _you._ ”

“Probably.  They should have known better.”  Keith let himself be led.  The backs of his knees hit the bed, and he dropped onto it with an _oof._  Shiro stood over him, looking like a fucking angel from heaven.

Oh, he was in so much trouble.

—

Shiro watched Keith hungrily, the sight of Keith on his back, naked and ready and willing to do anything Shiro wanted.  A pair of blue-violet eyes sparkled up at him, even over the solemn mouth, hinting at just the same enthusiasm.

Keith tilted his chin up.  “Got me right where you wanted me, huh?”

“Mmm?”  Shiro leaned back, sliding a finger under his waistband, then pulling it down slowly, stripping—showing off, even.  Keith’s eyes followed, and Shiro shivered at the sensation of being so desperately wanted.  “Yeah, I’d say.”

Keith’s tongue came out to lick his bottom lip, and then he bit down on it.  Shiro’s eyes lingered, fantasizing, wishing that he were the one in between those teeth instead.

“Pretty as you are, we’re gonna have to be faster than that,” Keith murmured.

Shiro laughed, finishing up his stripping quickly and pouncing on the bed next to Keith.  He hesitated, then slid his hand up Keith’s thigh, between his legs, teasing at Keith’s balls, even a bit at Keith’s entrance right behind.  “Shame, I wanted to have a bit of fun with you.”

Keith gasped, then grinned, and god, Shiro wanted to keep that grin forever.  “Can’t you have any fun with me _after_ pizza?”

“Fine, fine.”  Shiro flopped back into the bed, returning the grin.  “How do you want me?”

“Tied up and begging, mostly.  But for now…”  Keith pushed himself back up.  “Actually, get on your knees.  On the floor.  Front on the bed.”

Shiro licked his lips longingly, sliding off obediently, then kneeled.  He laughed softly, crossing his arms and resting his chin on them.  “ _Do_ they have rope?”  He didn’t expect it now, but maybe in the future…

“I’m sure they have something somewhere,” Keith murmured absently.  “They have something for everyone here.”  He ran a hand over Shiro’s ass appreciatively, and Shiro let him coax it into the air.  “Think you can take me right now?”

Shiro groaned, lazy and pleased, spreading his legs, wanting to be filled _right now._  “Ready and willing.”

“You’re perfect,” Keith hummed appreciatively.  His hand moved up to stroke the back of Shiro’s neck, and Shiro closed his eyes in bliss.  “I want to try something.  Do you trust me?”

One eye opened to enjoy the sight of Keith spread on the bed, cock already hard.  “Yeah, ‘course.”

Keith pushed himself off of the mattress, standing to wander behind Shiro, dragging fingers down his spine as he went.  Shiro followed him with his eyes until he wasn’t visible anymore, and moments later, Shiro felt him line up with his dripping entrance.

“I’m going to hold your head down.  If you want to stop, just tell me.”

Shiro shuddered with anticipation.  “Y-yeah, go ahead,” he gasped.

Keith slid in, not fast but also without hesitation.  Shiro groaned, welcoming him, eyes rolling to the back of his head as Keith filled him completely.  He pulled out once, and Shiro missed him for the briefest of moments.  On his way back in, he gripped the back of Shiro’s neck _hard_ , right over the glands, and pressed him into the sheets.

“Oh _god,_ ” Shiro gasped, pushing back, just because—he didn’t know why, but there was something inside that made him want to fight back, to tease, just a little.  To make Keith _earn_ this.  “Keith, holy shit, I need—”

And Keith just seemed to _know._  He found a rhythm, stabilizing Shiro with one hand in the fold of his thigh.  With each glide, he made a desperate-sounding noise, aiming with a precision that had Shiro succumbing helplessly to pleasure.

And then—

A sharp pain on the back of his neck, like _teeth_ , and for a moment—oh, god, for _just_ a moment!—Shiro thought, he really thought

“ _Keith!_ ” he cried, nearly _screamed_ , jerking his hips back demandingly, begging for more.  It was just a pinch from Keith’s hand, he thought dimly, but—  “Please—god—”

Keith ploughed as deep into Shiro as possible, and Shiro could feel the heat of his chest nearly touching Shiro’s back.  He could bite, he really could, and Shiro couldn’t stop him.

Shiro didn’t _want_ to stop him.

“I’m gonna fill you— _nngh_ —and you’re gonna take all of it.”

“Yes,” Shiro keened, circling his hips, trying to coax the knot out, trying to urge him deeper.  He _wanted_ Keith to bite, _wanted_ to be marked and owned and bred.  “All of it.  All of _you._ ”

“Fuck!”  A growl from behind Shiro left him going absolutely mad, whining and shuddering and begging and gasping as he pushed back against the hand on his neck.  “Please, Keith, pleasepleaseplease—”

The thickness of the knot began to grow unexpectedly, and Shiro let out a sob.

“Jesus, Shiro, _Shiro._ ”

“Keith!” Shiro yelped, distantly wondering if he could die from absolute _need._  “God, _please!_  I need you to… _please!_  I want your knot—I—”

“Next time, I swear—ah!   _Ah!_ ”  Keith’s nails dug hard into Shiro’s neck, and suddenly warmth flooded into Shiro’s cunt, filling him as they both burned up too fast.  He pumped into Shiro, but _not quite enough_ , the knot just out of reach, and as he pulled out, Shiro could feel a wet stickiness decorating his back.

Shiro whined at the loss, pushing back against him.  “No,” he whimpered, unfinished, and Keith was gone before Shiro could get everything out of him.  “Keith, please…”

And then there were fingers plugging him up again, holding the come inside, and Shiro groaned, continuing to thrust back on the fingers and sobbing.  It was good, _so_ good, but it wasn’t _enough._  “No, Keith, I need…”

A pressure on Shiro’s back, and then the arm pistoned hard and fast, a jackhammer in and out of Shiro’s body.  “I’ve got you, baby.”

Shiro groaned again as the overwhelming pressure fucked into him.  “Oh, god, thank—fuuuuuck.”  He tightened around Keith’s fingers, begging, pleading…

A fourth finger slipped in, then resumed its pace without mercy as Keith dismantled Shiro’s composure piece by piece.

“I want you to be a wrecked mess when that pizza guy gets here.  I want him to take one breath of the air in here and know that I’m fucking you until you can’t even think.”

Shiro couldn’t even reply at that, letting out a wordless, brainless groan.  He’d lost himself like he’d never thought he could, a filthy mess over Keith’s fingers, and he could only sag as he waited to be brought to climax.

And then a palm reached out to wrap around Shiro’s cock, matching the rhythm, and Shiro had nowhere to run from the sensation overload.

Shiro clawed at the sheets like a madman, sputtering and whining and gasping, and then the orgasm was wrenched from him, his vision going white, Shiro keening as he rippled around Keith’s fingers—

And then there was a knock at the door.


	5. Chapter 5

Keith ignored it for several seconds, panting hard, eyes wide and hungry as they took in Shiro, shuddering weakly and covered in Keith’s come below him.  He barely noticed the red on his arm in the shape of a set of teeth, bitten there instead of on Shiro’s neck, barely noticed the taste of copper in his mouth.

Glee and something too close to pride to be healthy surged through him, and he grinned fiercely, slapping Shiro’s ass loud enough that it echoed through the room.  He pulled out of Shiro with an obscene noise, standing and licking both of their come off his fingers.

“Coming.”

He smirked.

It was easy to pull a sheet over Shiro’s ass and slip into some sweats.  When he opened the door, the pizza boy squeaked.  His nametag said Martinez and his wide eyes said he was probably a virgin.  Keith winked.

“Thanks.  It’s hungry work in here.”  He took the box because the kid’s hands seemed stuck where they were.

“Uh.  Yeah.  Um, and the doctor said to give you water, too!”  The kid reached into a bag and pulled out a big bottle of water.  When Keith balanced the pizza on one hip, he could see the way the kid’s eyes followed a bead of sweat down the curve of his body.  Then they flicked back to Shiro on the bed.

From behind him, Shiro whined softly, sagging, clearly barely able to keep from collapsing onto the ground.  He was only able to make a small, gargling sound, and Keith’s grin widened at the completely debauched noise.

He looked back over his shoulder, and the alpha inside him preened at Shiro’s mindless, boneless sprawl.  And as he dripped on the floor…

He didn’t even seem to care.

Keith would fuck Shiro into this state as many times as he could before the night was up.

Turning back to the kid, Keith leaned in.  Martinez was so distracted by Shiro that he didn’t notice Keith until it was too late, and Keith was speaking straight into the shell of his ear.

“Stop by reception and tell them I want to give you a tip,” Keith said lowly.  Hairs stood up on the kid’s arms as he scrambled to leave.  Keith huffed a laugh to himself and closed the door, turning back to Shiro.

“Time to clean you up, baby.  Need to get your strength back so that we can do this again.”  He dumped the pizza on the bed, then ran fingers through Shiro’s hair.

Shiro whined, nuzzling bonelessly into Keith’s hand.  “Keeeeith,” he murmured, shivering, shaking, leaning.

Keith spotted him just in time, how he was tipping towards the floor, looping arms underneath lifting him to deposit him on the bed properly, head on the pillow.  “That good, huh?  Even though I jumped the gun?”

Shiro groaned, managing to collect himself enough to crawl back onto the bed and flop over.  “Feels… yeah…”

“You’re hot when you’re all fucked out like this.”  Despite this, despite knowing that it was temporary, Keith was feeling very cocky after everything.

“Hnnn.”  Shiro shifted, trying to roll onto his side.  “Trek’n pizza?”

“Sounds like a dream.”  Keith moved the pizza close enough for Shiro to eat easily, then poured them both a big glass of water.  Shiro fumbled with the remote, and the theme music started as he climbed up next to Shiro and grabbed for a slice of pizza himself.

He watched Shiro fumble for the water, grunting as he tried to sit up.  “Could get used to this.”

Keith swallowed.  “You like having me at your service, huh?”  Keith guided the glass to him.  “Need a pillow?”

Shiro shot him a look.  “I _mean_ lyin’ around and havin’ sex and pizza.  But sure.”

“Shut up.  You know you’d love it.”  Keith bit down.

“I dooo,” Shiro hummed, cuter than he had any right to be, pushing himself up.  “Pillow?”

Keith attentively tucked a pillow under Shiro, plumping up the other ones around him.  He pulled the blanket up over Shiro’s bare feet, too, to make sure he didn’t get cold.

Shiro laughed softly.  “Such an attentive alpha.  You implied that you’ve had trouble?  I don’t get it.”

Keith frowned a little.  He didn’t really want to think about it, and besides, didn’t Shiro get it?  He’d turned Keith down, too.  “I’m small.  And not the friendliest person, I guess?  People think interviews with me are hard.  So unless the omega wants to get going without talking, we usually don’t even get to a bed.”

Shiro hummed.  “You seem pretty friendly to me.”  He smirked.  “And I like shorter guys.”

Keith looked away.  “That’s why I keep saying you’re perfect.”

Shiro laughed delightedly.  “I’m so glad.  I’ve had the opposite problem, I guess.”

“Stupid.  Alphas are stupid.”

“Little bit,” Shiro teased, pinching Keith’s side.  “You should’ve seen yourself when you got a good look between my legs.”

“It’s a lot to deal with!” Keith insisted, uncharacteristically embarrassed.  “You’re beautiful everywhere!”

Shiro’s face spread slowly into a grin.  “God, I don’t know how I’m gonna deal with you.”

Keith’s smile was small but irrefutable.  “You could just fuck me.  It worked so well last time.”

Shiro raised an eyebrow, laughing.  “What, you wanna try to have a baby too?”

“Is all of this only for babies?” Keith asked, trying to make it come out offhandedly—but the weight of the question couldn’t be removed completely.

Shiro swallowed, and Keith could have kicked himself.  What kind of question was that?  “I just meant—if you wanted me to—”

Keith’s face burned.  “I’m just—it sounded fun, but you’re right.  We’ve got a job to do, don’t we?”

“I don’t mind!” Shiro insisted, and god, Keith was going to curl up and die if he had to deal with any more pity.  “I’m sorry, I just—we just met, and—”

“No, it’s okay.  You’re being responsible.”  Keith found a smile for him, despite the tightness in his chest.  “Hunk told you to keep me in line.”

Shiro didn’t respond, just sighed, pulling him closer and snagging a slice of pizza before turning the show back on.

Keith didn’t look at the screen.  He kept his eyes fixed on Shiro’s clavicle and tried to breathe.  Shiro vagued his way out of a date and didn’t want to do anything more than what they needed to get him knocked up.  It was fine.  Ninety-seven percent didn’t mean anything.  Keith didn’t even know him.  It was _fine._

God, what was wrong with him?

“He seemed really happy,” Shiro hummed, and Keith blinked out of his own head and back into the room.  “It was kind of funny.”

“Who did?”

“Dr. Garrett.  You know.  All…”  Shiro waved his hand.

“Oh.  Yeah, he’s like… cheerful.  He’s probably just excited to have a high match to work with.”

“Yeah, I can see that.  They really put a lot of stock into this match thing, don’t they?”

“Well, usually it’s pretty accurate.  So.”

“They hadn’t gone over it too much in orientation.  I think they wanted to encourage us to pick on our own without worrying too much, at first.”

“I guess that makes sense.  I don’t really bother with the mixers much now.”  Keith pulled on his hair, hands suddenly fidgety.  “I just meet anyone over fifty percent and go from the interview.”

“Or from number alone,” Shiro teased.  “But it worked out.”

“…Yeah, well.  Normally I don’t do sex on the first interview.  You’re just… you.”

Shiro blinked, and Keith tried to think back to when he had first started.  It _had_ been very different, hadn’t it?  After the first few times, though, it had turned much more… clinical.  Into a job.  “Wait, they were expecting us to interview?”

“If we wanted.  You can just… go for it, too, if you want to.”

“Oops,” Shiro said dryly.

“It’s not a problem.”  Keith shrugged against him.  His hair slipped from between his fingers, so he let his hand drop to his lap.  They sat and ate and watched in silence.

It took a full nod of Shiro’s head before Keith realized that he was starting to fall asleep.  Fair enough.  He’d taken Keith’s dick more than his fair share of times today.

“You’re beautiful.  You think we can go some more?” Shiro hummed.

Keith would have fallen off the bed if Shiro didn’t have him hooked in.

“Sure,” he says, quiet and willing.  “As many times as you want.”

Shiro hummed, nestling his face into Keith’s neck and letting his eyes droop closed.

Because Keith was a piece of shit masochist, he started to gently rub fingers through Shiro’s hair.  They were both still gross.  The pizza box was on the bed.  But he didn’t move.

Shiro hummed, kissing on Keith gently, but he eventually sighed.  It wasn’t too long before his breathing steadied into the rhythm of sleep.

Keith stared at the ceiling.  He kept his hand in Shiro’s hair and didn’t move a single muscle.

After an hour, the lights went off, detecting no movement in the room.  The emergency lighting painted them both blue.

Keith should go.  He should definitely, one hundred percent, go.

When Shiro woke again, it was dark.

It took several moments for him to realize, exactly, where he was, and why he felt… well, on the achy side.  But it was a good ache, like the one from working out, even if it was a bit too much.

He groaned, stretching, squeezing the warm form against him happily—

And then the lights snapped on and he let out a displeased grunt, jerking back.  “Fuck.”

The hands on him—Keith’s hands—flew off him in an instant.  “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just, bright.  Ow.”  He winced, rubbing at his eyes, glancing at the TV.  Off now.  “How’re you?”

“Fine.”  Keith cleared his throat.  “Do you feel better?  You were out pretty cold there.”

“Mmm.”  Shiro laughed.  “You wore me out.”

As he turned to watch, Keith smiled slowly.  “And that’s a good thing, right?”

“Oh, yeah.”  Shiro stretched some more.  “Lemme wake up and we can go again.”

Without missing a beat, Keith reached for Shiro’s cock underneath the sheet.  As Shiro inhaled sharply, he trailed fingers over it, then wrapped around it gently.

“Why wake up?  Sleepy morning sex is nice.”

Shiro hummed, not bothering to point out that it clearly wasn’t yet morning.  He pressed forward, into Keith’s back.  “Yeah?”

“Yeah.  Quiet and warm, just slowly feeling better and better, and melting into the sheets.  It’s good.”  Keith thumbed over the head, and Shiro could feel himself starting to harden.  He hummed delightedly, hips jerking forward.

“Ohh, that’s _good._ ”

“Shame there’s no sunrise to watch in here,” Keith said, like he was just hanging out instead of slowly jerking Shiro off.

Shiro groaned in surprise, rocking his hips forward.  “That late already?”

“Maybe.  I can’t see the clock from here.”  Keith squeezed just on the inside of hard and lightly dragged a nail down the underside of Shiro’s cock.  Shiro hissed, jerking his hips and groaning.  “I haven’t really played with this much, have I?”

“God, no, you… I…”

“But that won’t fill you up with pups, will it?”

Shiro exhaled, arousal tingling through him, and he shuddered, eyes wide.  Holy _shit._  God, Keith hadn’t mentioned that he could talk dirty, too.  “N-no—”

“I bet you want me to fill you up until you can see it.”  Keith turned to face Shiro, placing a palm over Shiro’s stomach.  “Would you like that?  All swollen and round instead of these abs?”

Shiro groaned, already a whining, shivering mess at the thought of it, lying on his back lazily, stomach full with Keith’s claim on him.  “God, yes, please, I want… I want it… I want _you—_ ”

“You sound so pretty when you beg.”  Keith pushed Shiro onto his back and lifted one shaking leg into the air like it weighed nothing.  He let go of Shiro’s cock, and without warning—Shiro hadn’t even realized he had lined _up_ —he rammed inside forcefully.

Shiro yelped, unfettered and unashamed, whining and keening and tightening around Keith as the huge length filled him, split him open.  “Holy—oh my g— _Keith!_ ”

Keith’s grip on Shiro’s knee was strong enough to bruise, and he set up a punishing pace that Shiro knew he would never forget, Keith branding himself into Shiro’s body.

“Yeah, just—just like that.   _Fuck_ , you take it like a slut.”

Shiro choked, then whined desperately, shaking like a leaf.  His fingers clawed at the sheets, head thrown back, eyes closed and mouths open.  He wanted this, _needed_ it.  “Yes!” he yelped.  “Like—like _your_ slut!  God, give me _everything!_ ”

Keith’s movements were a little angry, a little sloppy, and completely perfect.  He shoved Shiro’s leg wider, throwing Shiro’s knee over one shoulder and gripping his hips instead.

“K— _Ke-i-th!_ ” Shiro keened, spreading his legs obligingly, welcoming Keith in.  “Please—want you to—to take me as hard as—want you to fill me up—please, _Keith!_ ”

Every thrust shoved Shiro up the bed, rucking the sheets under his back.  Keith’s hips hit the backs of Shiro’s thighs with wet slaps as slick emerged in a non-stop stream from between Shiro’s legs.

“Touch yourself,” Keith ordered on a gasp, and Shiro’s hand fumbled down to grip his cock, jerking at it clumsily.  There was some pleasure in it, yes, but it came mostly from the sensation of Keith inside him, of how roughly he was being used.  He was on fire inside, tension coiling fast and taut.

“Please,” he managed, voice hoarse.

Stripes of pain dragged down the skin of Shiro’s thighs as Keith’s hands started to slip on sweat, and he tightened his grip, digging in his nails.  Shiro tightened around him, pulling him in, begging wordlessly.

“F-fuck, I’m gonna—”

Shiro could feel the knot start to swell, but he was so open and wet that it didn’t yet start to catch.

“Breed me,” he pleaded.  “I wanna leave here stuffed so full I can’t walk.”

A ragged laugh from above him.  “Walk?  I’m gonna fuck you so hard you won’t even be able to _think._ ”  Keith’s promise was carried on gasps, voice gravelly and low.  The knot slid in and out, and each time the building pressure inside of Shiro made him see stars.

He tried to respond, but his mouth wouldn’t work, so he just nodded, already well on his way there.  He went limp, eyes closed, relishing in being treated so roughly.

He could get used to this, he realized distantly.  He could get used to coming here, every day, letting Keith have his way with him, fill him up with pups and then coming back for more, using him over and over, and then taking him home to use him some more…

Keith’s knot finally caught properly, and he was only able to pull out all the way once more before he had to use force to thrust it back into Shiro’s body.  Shiro keened at it, thrusting forward, begging for it.  It was so big, _god_ it was big, and he squeezed demandingly.

“Harder!” he begged.  “Mark me, claim me, fill me—”

Keith grunted and pressed on the small of Shiro’s back to hold him in place.  Pain lanced through his shoulder as Keith bit down, hard, and grabbed the back of Shiro’s neck again.

Keith couldn’t pull free from Shiro any longer, but he continued to rut into his body, and the orgasm ripped through Shiro, violent and overwhelming and absolutely _perfect._  He was sure, absolutely sure, that this was what he wanted for the rest of his life, and even now, tiny hints of domestic bliss threaded through his overwhelming ecstasy.

“Keith,” Shiro sobbed, barely aware of what he was saying.  “Please, alpha, I… I need you, I love you, please—”

And then he couldn’t think anymore at all.


	6. Chapter 6

Keith came.

It was short and took him by surprise.  Shiro’s words rung in his skill and his sweat went to ice, but he still pumped out, hot and trapped by the knot.  He was frozen in place, chest heaving and mind racing.

“Oh, man,” Shiro panted, shuddering and closing his eyes, tilting his head back.  “ _Wow._ ”

It took a few minutes, but Keith peeled his hands from Shiro’s hips.  There were finger marks there, and lines of red.  He put his hands on the bed instead.

Swallowing thickly, Keith let his head drop so that his hair hid his expression.  He forced himself to breathe.  He closed his eyes so he could pretend that they weren’t burning.

From below him, Shiro whimpered softly, reaching out to curl around Keith like an octopus.  “Please…” he whined.

Keith had a job to do.

He wiped a hand down his face once and then submitted to Shiro’s embrace.  He worked an arm under Shiro to scoop him close.

“I’ve got you,” he said quietly.

It was just hormones and oxytocin.  It was just primal bullshit.  Shiro wasn’t on his heat, but this was the first time he’d ever had someone get so intimate and Keith couldn’t be surprised if things slipped out.  No one loved Keith, anyway.

No one loved him.  No one loved him.  No one loved him.

“That was so good,” Shiro crooned, shivering.  “You’re so amazing… Keith, that was… I… wow…”

“Just doing my job,” Keith managed.  His shaking arms demanded that he rest, so he just lowered himself to Shiro’s chest and rested his forehead on Shiro’s sternum.

Shiro just hummed, pulling him close, and Keith closed his eyes.

He could feel Shiro’s body beneath him start to come down from the high.  The question was on the top of his tongue, but he dragged himself back from asking it.  It would only have an answer he didn’t like.

He bit it back.

“Are you okay?” he asked instead.

“Mhmmm.” Shiro shifted closer, pulling him in.  “That was great.”

“Sorry I was so rough.”  Keith ran a shaky hand down Shiro’s arm, soothing, though whether Shiro or himself, he wasn’t sure.

“No,” Shiro hummed.  “you were wonderful.”

“Okay.”  Keith wanted to sleep and wake up feeling any other way than how he did now.  But sleeping against Shiro’s chest was only going to give his body the wrong impression.  He gave an experimental tug backwards, but they were still locked deep.

Shiro whined in idle protest, pulling Keith back closer.

“Don’ go,” he slurred, sated and content.  God, Keith wished he were the same.  He felt trapped.  He closed his eyes, willing himself to calm down.  Willing his knot to go down.

“…It’s okay.  I’ll stay.”

“’Kay.”  Shiro sighed happily, eyes closing, and he settled back into the pillows.

Keith didn’t say anything for a while, slowly forcing himself to accept everything and building the walls he needed to get through it unscathed.  When his knot finally went soft, he started to pull back gently out of Shiro’s body.

Shiro whimpered in protest, but he didn’t fight, only opening his eyes to watch Keith reproachfully.  Keith swallowed and had to look away.

When he finally pulled free, there was only a short moment between the air touching his cock and the first slow drip of come from between Shiro’s legs.  It made his traitorous body thrum to see it.

“If you stay lying on your back, there’s a better chance it will take,” Keith murmured practically.  “I just need to—I’m going to go get some air.  I’ll be back in ten, okay?  Do you need anything?”

Shiro turned and blinked over at him.  Keith’s mouth felt stuffed full of cotton.  “I… oh.  Okay.”  He nodded jerkily.  “You all right?”

“Yeah.  Yeah, I think I just need some air without pheromones in it for a little bit,” Keith said, trying to be reassuring.  There was a ventilation system in every room, but he had to believe he’d break free of this if he got air that wasn’t recycled.

Shiro shifted, as if to turn to face Keith, but then caught himself and tilted his head instead.  “Yeah, okay.  See you then?”

“Yeah.”  Keith had already pulled on pants, was already walking to the door.  He unlocked it and waited with growing panic until it finally slid open and he could stumble out.  The feeling didn’t yield until he’d rushed through the building and out into the night.

Despite the late summer heat, he shivered, the sweat on his body cooling him.  The stars were bright and the street lamps were dim.  He rested his head against a wall and shivered.

Keith hit the wall once.  Then again, and again.  He felt his knuckles split and pulled his arm to his chest.  That shit got you noticed.  That shit got him put on health watch and pulled from the program.

Keep it together.

It actually was easier to think, out in the open air.  As Shiro’s scent cleared from Keith’s system, he could think a little more rationally.  But the feeling didn’t clear away like he wanted it to.  He rubbed absently at his chest, wishing the ache would go away.

When he finally stepped back in, the receptionist stopped him.

“Oh!  I got a note from Doctor Garrett.  I’m going to cancel your heat with James now that you’ve found a near-perfect match, so please don’t worry about coming in.”

Keith’s heart seized.

“N-no.  I’ll do the heat.  Nothing’s changed.”

She looked perplexed.  There was silence for a while.

“Well… are you sure?”

Keith didn’t reply.  She frowned.

“I’ll let the doctor know, then.”

“Thanks,” Keith said hoarsely.  He wasn’t going to focus his life on Shiro, not when Shiro didn’t seem to have any real interest.  Keith was going to take the money from that heat and fifty more and get a life for himself.

He slipped back into the room silently, and the lights were on dim mode when he entered.

Shiro was completely out, apparently unable to help shifting to his side in his sleep.  With a happy hum, he pulled the pillow, the one that Keith had used, closer.

Keith should be relieved that Shiro stayed.  He _was_ relieved.  He moved fast to Shiro’s side and gently lay on the bed to curl around him.  He’d give this up.  He _would._  But first, he was just going to commit Shiro’s smell, the feel of him, the light across his cheekbones, to memory.

Shiro didn’t wake as Keith touched him, just made another pleased noise, pressing closer into him.

Keith kissed his head and tried to sleep.

—

Shiro slept like a fucking baby.  Keith did not, but he drifted off eventually.  And ten hours later, he woke to…

“Mornin’,” Shiro drawled, smiling sleepily.

Keith blinked open bleary eyes and smiled back before he knew what he was doing.  “Hey.”

“Hey, darlin’,” Shiro hummed.

The security camera on the door beeped, and Keith’s blissful morning crashed around his ears.  He kept his eyes on Shiro’s, willing himself to believe in this for five more minutes.  Just that.  That was all he was asking for.

“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” Keith said quietly.

Shiro laughed softly.  “Why, are they sore?  I’d expect more than that would be.”

“You’re probably worse off than me,” Keith said diplomatically.  Unable to help himself, he reached out to brush some hair from Shiro’s eyes.

Shiro whined softly, and Keith wanted to bottle the noise.  “No, I’m great.  _Feels_ great.  How about you?”

“Mm, a bit sore, yeah.  We went hard.  It’s easier when I’m rutting.  To keep up, I mean.”

Shiro nodded.  “You should call me when you do,” he teased.

“…When I rut?”  Keith laughed nervously.  “I don’t think that’s how it works here.”

“Why not?”  Shiro shifted forward, smiling fondly, and Keith thought he might drown in the smell of him.

“A rutting alpha can be… a lot to deal with.  It can get kind of violent,” Keith admitted with some shame.

Shiro propped himself up on his elbows, and god, was that _interest_ glinting in his eyes?  “Yeah?”

Keith swallowed.  “If you aren’t bonded, it can be unpleasant.  Especially—well, me.  I’m not very good at being in control of my rut.”

He almost explained why, but stopped himself.  Shiro hadn’t read the file much, had he?  He might not have caught the few choice words: half-Galra.  Not a problem to have in a bloodline, not with only a quarter, but with half-breeds, with Keith…

But Shiro only shivered.

“I don’t… know that it would be _that_ bad,” he murmured.

Keith colored hotly.  Jesus.  _Jesus._  He was going to be jerking off to that idea until he _expired._

“You’re insatiable.”  He reached out to give Shiro a gentle little shove.  Shiro laughed softly, letting the shove nudge him to fall on his back.

He offered Keith a lecherous little grin, and Keith swallowed.

“Maybe.  Can you blame me?”

“Yes.  I can’t believe the day after you lose your virginity, you want to take an alpha in rut.  I’m actually a little impressed.”

“I feel like I’d love to handle anything you can throw at me,” Shiro shot back, challenging.

Keith’s whole stomach flipped, and he wanted to shove Shiro into the sheets and mount him he wanted to drag him home for Keith’s own rut and lock every door and window and cover him in scent and keep him absolutely safe from the outside world—

And fuck him until they both break.

“You won’t be called in for anything like that.  But it’s good you aren’t nervous about it.”

“Well, maybe _you_ can call me in, then.”  Shiro raised an eyebrow, stretching, and let the sheet fall down his hips just a little bit more.

Keith groaned and turned his face into the pillow.  It was torture.  He should be grateful, that Shiro still wanted him for sex, at least, but knowing that outside this room he wasn’t—

“We don’t have much time left,” he protested, hard in seconds.  Embarrassing.

He didn’t tell Shiro that he couldn’t rut with anyone he wasn’t mated to.  Not again.  Not after—

He skipped over that offer and hoped that they would leave it at that.

Shiro sighed, sounding a little mournful.  “Okay, okay.  Maybe next time, then.”

Keith made a frustrated noise and ground into the sheets.  This might be the last time he ever…

His hand shot out to grab Shiro at the elbow.  “Do you think—what if we were quick?”

As he peeped out, Shiro smirked, leaning in…

…And a knock sounded on the door again.

Shiro sighed, this time sounding _very_ mournful, and flopped back.

“Apparently it won’t matter.”

Keith groaned again, louder.  “Fuck!” he yelled into the soft cotton.

Getting up angrily, he shoved a t-shirt on and stomped to the door.

“Good morning, Keith!” Hunk said sunnily.

“Don’t look at me like that.  You have to have at least twelve hours rest before your next shift.  You know that.  Your heat partner could need you at any moment tomorrow, so I have to send you home.”  Hunk looked around Keith to wave.

“Good morning, Shiro!  I hope you’re feeling well.”

Shiro cleared his throat, tugging the sheets back up to his chest.  “Uh, yeah.  I’m okay.  How about you?”

“Oops, okay, I’ll come back in ten and let you both get decent.  Don’t forget to get breakfast in the cafeteria, and take your nutrients from Nurse Serrano.”

Shiro nodded a little sheepishly, glancing around.  “Uh, can I… shower?”

“You can go first,” Keith said, nodding to the bathroom.  Hunk gave them a wave, and Keith shut the door.

Shiro cleared his throat.  “Sorry about that.  I’ll, uh…”

“Oh.   _Oh._  I’ll just…”  Keith turned and awkwardly looked at the ceiling, arms crossed.

“What?”

“I don’t know.  It seemed like you maybe wanted some privacy.”  How had Hunk’s presence broken the spell so thoroughly?

“Sorry.  Um.  I’m gonna… yeah.”

Shiro bolted for the shower, leaving Keith feeling like an idiot.

Still, Keith’s shoulders relaxed a little when the door locked, but not by much.  His cells were screaming at him to get back in the bed, chase Shiro into the shower, and do it all again.  The idea of leaving the building without Shiro made him sick.

Maybe he should speak to Hunk.

He stripped the bed, because he wasn’t a barbarian.  He crumpled all the gross sheets and pillowcases together so that whatever poor soul cleaned up after them had an easier time of it.  Then he was left twiddling his thumbs.

Shiro took nine minutes to scrub the evidence from his skin, the scent unfortunately coming with it.

The next sixty seconds he spent dressing like a madman.

As he hopped out of the bathroom, trying to get a sock on, he looked up at Keith.  “Oh—oh.  Hey.”

“Hey,” Keith said with a soft smile.  He followed Shiro’s lead and sat on the end of the bed to pull on his own socks, as well as his high tops.  “Feel better?”

He didn’t head for the bathroom.  He hoped no one would comment on it.  He just wanted to keep Shiro on his skin a little longer.

Shiro grinned back at him, an unsettling contrast to the turmoil within Keith.  “A little less filthy.  Wouldn’t say that means better.”

“Oh.”  Keith swallowed.  “Is it that bad?”

“Not being filthy anymore?  I kinda miss it.”  He winked.

Keith grinned, despite himself, and ducked his head.  “No, I just meant… are you all right?  Was your first time worth the fuss, in the end?  Not fishing for compliments, I swear.”

Shiro’s beam sent Keith’s stomach into a somersault.  “Yeah, it was fantastic.  Wouldn’t want it any other way.  The inexperience wasn’t too bad?”

“No.  You’re a natural.”  Keith caught himself.  “Is that weird to say?  In a not creepy way.  Uh.  Yeah.”

“What?  No way, of course it’s not weird.”  Shiro looked like he was goddamn preening.  “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Despite the awkward morning conversation, Keith wanted to ask him to stay.  He really, really wanted to.

“I guess I’ll see you around, then?”

“I guess.”  Shiro watched him back, looking a little forlorn.

Keith struggled to keep it in.  He had a hand clenched around the edge of the mattress, clinging desperately so that he didn’t grab Shiro and force him to stay.

What _was_ this?

“Take care.”

Shiro turned, watching the door, and for a moment, Keith thought he wasn’t going to—

The knock sounded again on the door.  Shiro sighed and stepped forward.

Keith told himself not to watch Shiro leave, but at the last moment, his eyes flicked up for one last glance.

“Hey, doctor,” Shiro said amiably, clearly not as torn about leaving as Keith was.  “Did you want to check on us?”

“Yep!  I wanted to debrief you, Mister Shirogane.  You can come back another time to do it if you’re tired, or if you need time to process anything.”

“Uh, no, I’ll be fine.”  He cleared his throat, and Keith looked away again.  “Let’s do it now.”

“Come into my office, then, and we’ll get it out of the way.”  Hunk held the door open, and Shiro followed.

The door closed.  Keith was left alone.

It _hurt._

For a while, he just sat and stared at the floor.  He didn’t move an inch until he heard a cleaning cart outside and jumped.  He couldn’t let them take the sheets.

…What?

It was primal.  The last link he had, proof of the bond between him and Shiro.  If they washed it, that would all be gone.

Keith eyed the pile.  He could just… take a pillowcase.

But they would notice, right?  Wasn’t that violating Shiro’s privacy or something?  It had to be against the rules, and he had no way to explain if—

The wheels stopped right outside the door.  Keith grabbed a pillow, yanking off the case, and folded it, tucking it into the waist of his pants under his shirt.

He was so fucked.


	7. Chapter 7

“That seemed to go very well!”  Dr. Garrett beamed over at Shiro, who was smiling pretty widely himself.  “Are you feeling all right?  Feeling happy?”

“Yeah, I feel amazing, actually.  Keith is pretty amazing.”

Shiro watched Dr. Garrett’s face soften, smile widening even more.  “I thought you might say that.”  He swiped across the tablet in his hand, then handed it over to Shiro.  “These are the stats from your visit.  The room monitored heartbeat, adrenaline, and various other hormones.  Chemically, you two really hit it off.”

He felt his face flush deeper and deeper.  He’d remembered hearing something about this, but there had been so much information…  “I, uh, didn’t know that you guys… monitored so much.”

“The camera footage is kept under a hundred layers of security and unmonitored except in emergencies, so this is the only way to make sure your health is monitored over time.  No one else will see this.  But, yeah, check it out.  I think at this rate you’ll be pregnant by the six month mark, if you want to keep seeing Keith.”

Shiro blinked.  “Six months?  That’s… I thought it would be sooner.”  He’d been told about his fertility for so long…

“Well, you might be pregnant right now!  But we do a serious evaluation at six months, if you’re not, to see if we can change anything.  I think you’ll beat us to it.”

“Oh.   _Oh,_ ” he said with a breathless laugh, a little thrill running through him.  “Okay.  That… that makes more sense.  Sure!”

He’d never thought the idea of being pregnant could leave him so… giddy.

“Any problems?”  Dr. Garrett took the tablet back, fingers poised over the screen.

“Only that it ended,” Shiro joked.

“So I can pen you in to see him again?”

Shiro perked up eagerly.  “Please!  When I can come back?”

“Well, whenever you’re free, really.  We have to reserve the room and you’ll need to get an STI test at least two hours in advance, but otherwise I can just put you on Mister Kogane’s schedule.”

Shiro blinked.  They’d given him one when he’d first started, of course, but…  “Do you think he might have one?”

“Have a… what, an STI?  No!  No, we have to test you before you meet him again.  Just precautionary.  He does the same before his meetings, too.”

“Even if he’s the only one I’m—”  Shiro shook his head.  He’d follow the rules.  “Whatever you say.”

“It’s just policy, don’t worry.  They don’t take long and won’t cause any delays.”  He turned the tablet around again.  “Here’s his schedule.  Pick a time, and he’ll okay it.  Oh, when is your heat due?  You spent your last one on suppressants, right?”

Shiro winced, accepting the tablet.  He’d expected to have a partner by then, but as it had become clearer that wouldn’t happened, he’d gone back on them.  Though they had taken much of the edge off, it had still been a deeply unpleasant experience.  “Yeah, partially.  Probably in another two months?  I’ve been on suppressants for a long time, so…”

The doctor nodded understandingly.  “And this will be your first one without them in a while?”

He nodded.  “Almost ten years.  I was an early bloomer,” he laughed self-consciously, but it quickly faded.  “I know that the longer it is, the worse it’ll be once I go off, though, so…”

Shiro glanced down at the tablet as Dr. Garrett made a sympathetic noise.  “We’ll definitely make sure Keith is available for that, if you’d like to have him.  He’s usually one of our more available alphas.”

The tablet, however, seemed to display otherwise, and Shiro frowned.  “I’d like that, yes, but… this is very full, right now.”

“He has some heats upcoming, and they end up taking a lot of time to work through.  This schedule is a bit unusual.”

Shiro swallowed, trying not to wish that everyone on here was _him._

“Sure.  We can schedule one for when my heat will come around, but as for our next meeting…”  The closest of Keith’s empty days that agreed with Shiro’s schedule was three weeks out.  “We’ll do this one.  Thursday.”

“Sure thing!  Just place your index finger to it.  Just like that, yes.”  Shiro watched, intrigued, as it scanned the fingerprint, and his name brightened into place within the empty square.  “You’ll get a confirmation email with your appointment time.  Oh, and don’t forget to grab a pregnancy test from reception on your way out, okay?”

Shiro nodded again, smiling gently.  “Works for me.  You said something about breakfast?”

“In the canteen!  If you want to grab it, it’s free.”

“Right.  Sure.  Uh…”  He hesitated.  “You don’t… you can’t give out numbers, can you?”

Doctor Garrett smirked.  “No.  You have to get that info on your own time; sorry.”

Shiro ducked his head, feeling more like a dumb meathead than ever.  “Yeah.  Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.  He’s a quiet one, but he’s nice.  Just be straightforward.  It’ll go fine.”

Easy enough to say, but when he wasn’t getting fucked silly, or didn’t have Keith’s eyes lingering on him, he found himself suddenly plagued with buckets of self-doubt.  What if Keith had just been being nice?  Just like Hunk had said?

Fuck.   _Fuck._

“I’ll go get some food.”  He stood quickly, handing the tablet back over, trying not to trip.

“Sure.  Thanks for coming in, Mr. Shirogane.  We really appreciate your time.”

“And I’m okay to wait until that Thursday to come back in, right?”

He didn’t _want_ anyone but Keith.

“Oh, sure!  If you just want one partner, then we can accommodate that, provided that you’re able to conceive.  You can sign up for as many or as few if you want; you just have to come in once a month to stay on the payroll.”

Shiro exhaled with relief.  “Okay!  Okay.  Good.  That’s… good.”

“We won’t make you do anything you don’t want to.  You have my word.”

“Makes sense.  Don’t worry, I just… I feel a tiny bit out of my depth here.”

“That’s perfectly fine.  If you want a session with the psych team, just let me know.  We want to support you as best we can.  You’re safe here.”

“Psych team?”  Shiro tried not to let that worry him.

“Our mental health wing is here to help you through conception, pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.  And adoption, of course.”

Right.  So much reading; he still didn’t remember everything.  “Okay.”  Adoption.  It was a bit of a wistful thought.  He’d planned on it, of course, but he wondered if raising Keith’s children wouldn’t be that bad.  “I’ll let you know.  Anything else you need from me?”

“No, you can go and get some rest now.  Unless you need anything for aches and pains?”

Shiro shook his head.  He wanted to keep those.  “I’m okay.  But thanks.

“Then I’ll be in touch!  See you again, Mr. Shirogane.”

—

They shook hands.  Hunk wondered when the wedding would be.  He hoped they invited him; he loved to go to weddings of his clients.

After the interview, Hunk found Keith by accident.  He was clearing the data from the heat room when he nearly jumped out of the skin at a growl.  Keith was on the bed protectively, like he owned it, his eyes sharp and angry.

Hunk had been waiting for this to happen again.  He’d prayed it wouldn’t, but here they were.

He knelt on the floor in front of Keith, showing his neck.  “What’s got you so riled up?  See, I’m just gonna sit here.  Not in your space.  You know who I am, now, come on.”

It took a few moments, but Keith calmed, his eyes clearing a little when it became clear that Hunk wasn’t a threat.

“H-unk… what the fuck is happening?” he asked weakly, almost clumsily.  A quick glance revealed that his fangs had grown long—too big for his mouth.

“Deep breaths, buddy.  No need to panic,” Hunk said soothingly.  “I need to do some tests to know for sure, but do you remember when we talked about Galra imprinting?”

Keith whined in a way that could only mean yes.  “Please say it isn’t.”

“You guys were a near-perfect match.  It’s not necessarily a bad thing.  Can I come closer?”

Keith nodded, then sighed, curling in on himself, away from Hunk.  “It is.  It’s a bad thing.  I’m no good and I asked and he doesn’t even want to—why would he?  No one ever wants to stick with me for very long.”

“That sounds defeated.  He seemed really thrilled earlier, right?  He was happy with how it went.  You should see him again.”

“No!” Keith shouted, yanking back.  “No.  I don’t like this feeling.  I don’t want to be… to be _tied_ to someone who could just _leave_ whenever and then I’ll feel like this whenever they do—I can’t.  I _can’t._  Tell… schedule him with someone else.”

He tried a few times more to get Keith to see what everyone else could, but Keith… had always been stubborn.  In the end, Hunk could only get Keith away from the bed he had started to think of as his nest den, as well as finally eat and drink something.  He left dejected and frustrated.  Further attempts to reach out were met with only silence and hostility.

He canceled Shiro’s appointment.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do want to note—
> 
> I wrote this before S7 was released and had zero info on the MFE pilots, so James may come across as OOC, for which I apologize if that's something that bothers you. However, I liked the role he played so I kept it (with a reason) as well as tweaked some stuff. If I ever write that spinoff, I promise there will be an explanation?

Shiro received the cancelation email about a week after his visit.

He frowned down at the tablet, hoping that Keith was okay.  It was probably nothing.  Maybe he had a family emergency come up.  Maybe an omega needed his help.

Shiro smiled to himself.  Maybe he was getting a cat.

He shot off a quick email to the center, asking about Keith’s next opening.

Dr. Garrett replied, asking him to come in.

Shiro knew, when he sat down across from the desk and saw Dr. Garrett’s solemn expression, that he wasn’t going to like this discussion.  And as the doctor explained, gently and carefully, that there were some medical complications that meant Keith wouldn’t be a viable match for Shiro, he was proven right.

And Shiro could only stare, feeling like he’d been punched in the gut.

“Wh—what does that even mean?” he finally managed, more than a little urgent.  “Is he okay?  Is he sick?  Can I at least see him?”

“He’s… he’ll be fine.  We have him under observation, and it should all be well.  I can’t disclose anything else, but he won’t be coming in for a while.  I’m sorry.”

Shiro could feel himself wilting like a flower in the desert.  “At… all?  Do you know if he’ll be back, or if we can…?”

“I think,” the doctor began gently, “that for you, now is the time to try and meet another client who you’re comfortable with.  Mister Kogane should be considered a no-go for the foreseeable future.”

Shiro leaned back in his chair, feeling like he’d just been set adrift at sea.  “I… okay.”

Shit.  He had to come in once a month, too.

“So should I… when should…”  He swallowed.  “Someone… else, then?  This month?”

“You can just attend the mixers, if you’d like.  You’ll only be paid base level again, though, until you choose someone, and all other stipulations of any contract you might be under—such as number of births, that sort of thing, still apply.”

“R-right.  Sure.”  Back to the mixers.  Wonderful.  “When’s the next one?”

“We’ve got one tomorrow, and another on Saturday.”

Shiro took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.  It would be okay.  “Tomorrow, then.”

“I’ll put you on the guest list,” Doctor Garrett assured him.  “There’s no rush.  Take your time to find someone you’re comfortable with.”

Shiro only nodded.  “I’ll be there.”

—

He dressed nicely to go to the mixer.  They hadn’t worked too well in the past, but maybe, now that Shiro was more… confident, had already gone through this once, it would be different.

The first couple to approach him were omegas, like always, tentatively interested, and he turned them down gently as they quickly realized their mistake.  But as he was sneaking the last pair of pigs in a blanket, he nearly ran into an alpha, who laughed and steadied him and offered him a friendly hello.

Shiro lifted his hand, waving awkwardly.  The nametag said “Adam.”

“Uh, hi.  I’m Shiro.”

He winced as he remembered that his nametag said that, too.

—

Keith couldn’t stop thinking about Shiro.

He’d jacked off with the stolen pillowcase to his face more times than he could count.  It just made the wrong feelings inside him grow.  Why wasn’t he with Shiro?  Why had he left Shiro out there, alone and unprotected?

The shots Hunk administered eventually calmed him, and he washed the damn pillowcase and more or less snuck it back.  Hunk didn’t judge him, but he did log something in Keith’s chart.  It couldn’t be good, but hey, he’d at least returned the damn thing.

But then he had nothing.

James’s heat came, and the morning of, he packed his sparse bag and dragged himself to the clinic.

—

Shiro dialed the number with shaking fingers.

“Hello?  Doctor Garrett here.”

Shiro glanced around his apartment anxiously.  He hadn’t expected—this shouldn’t be—

“D-doctor?  I’m… I…”

“Mr Shirogane?  Are you all right?”

Shiro tried to take a deep breath, but god, no, no he wasn’t.  “I—I wasn’t expecting—usually—my cycle is only supposed to be every few months—”

“Shiro, take a breath for me, okay?  It sounds like your heat is here.  Is it here?”

“Yeah,” he choked out, curling into a tighter ball on the couch, but it still felt _wrong._  He’d turned the air conditioner down to an ungodly amount, but it still hadn’t helped.  “I… I wasn’t… I’m… it…”

“It’s okay.  We can look after you.  I’ll dispatch the pick-up, and they’ll make sure you get here safely.  Are you at home?”

“Yeah.  I can… I can try to drive in?  I… I was talking to Adam, and…”

“No, don’t try to drive.  We’ll contact him as soon as we can.  Are you sure you’re ready?  If you’re not, we have drugs that can…”

Shiro forced his thoughts away from who he _wanted_ it to be, thoughts of a lithe frame, of dark hair and purple eyes.  “N-no.  I’ll come in.  Just… just let him know?”  Shiro panted, groaning and covering his face.  Those thoughts had been a mistake; a frantic desire pulsed through him, and his fifth pair of underwear that day was now about to be consigned to the laundry basket.  “I’m sorry, I… let’s… mhm.”

“We’ll call him; don’t worry.  Just try to keep your doors and windows closed and we’ll have someone there in fifteen minutes.

Shiro nodded, making a small noise, and went to wedge himself in the small gap between his bed and the wall.

—

“You never used to— _ah!_ —you never used to kiss,” James gasped.  He was already reaching for Keith’s head again, dragging him down.  Keith devoured him, moving like a man possessed.  The hair was the wrong color and the shoulders were too slim, but Keith closed his eyes and buried himself in it.

If he just fucked enough, let himself get lost in the sensations, maybe he would dislodge the need inside him.

“You never used to talk this much,” Keith grunted back.

“Fuck you.”  James dragged nails hard down Keith’s back, and Keith groaned.

—

The center was as good as their word; while not an ambulance, it might as well have been.  Shiro finally stumbled into the center to see Doctor Garrett waiting for him, the calming presence of two scent-neutral individuals by his side.  Maybe identifying as betas, maybe just taking blockers and suppressants for the job.

The doctor wrapped a blanket around Shiro’s shoulders and led him quickly through the building.  They passed the regular rooms and stopped at the heat wing, where a room had already been sterilized for Shiro, filled with sheets in crinkly plastic wrap.

“If we can get you _anything_ , you just ask, okay?  Adam is on his way.”  He gestured at the bottles of water and packs of food, the sort of thing you could eat for quick energy.

Shiro nodded, trying not to look too miserable, mechanically tugging the wrapping off the sheets for something to do and then curling up on them.  He did his best to force away the need thudding within him, grabbing a pillow and pulling it close to his chest.

He’d thought this would be Keith.

—

James was trapped in Keith’s lap, tied to him and bored.  He shifted awkwardly, fingers dancing across the screen of his phone.  Every time he chewed his gum, it was right in Keith’s ear.

Irritation simmered within Keith.  He couldn’t read a book and had no one to text, so he was just trapped.  The fucking was all well and good until it stopped and he remembered—

_A soft laugh and the way Shiro hummed in the dark when he was pleased.  Gentle teasing and pizza—_

Fucking _stop._

He bit at James’s neck just to have something to do, and James gasped and tightened around him.

“You’re so fucking needy this time,” James grumbled, but he dropped the phone and started to roll in Keith’s lap.

—

Shiro’s head snapped in when the door whooshed open, smiling a little dazedly, mostly from relief.  He realized what he must look like, and he dropped the pillow, embarrassed and sheepish.

“H-hi,” he choked out, running his fingers through his hair.  They still shook, and the pressure within him had gotten worse.

He had a feeling that it would continue to do that for quite some time before it got better.

“Hey.”  Adam smiled over fondly, pink dusting his cheeks.  “Can I… come in?”

Shiro nodded, inhaling sharply.  “Yeah, let’s… let’s get to it?”  He tried to smile a bit more friendly… ly.  “How are you?”

“I’m good.  I’m glad you called me.  I was really hoping that you would,” Adam said with sincerity.  God, such a nice guy.

Shiro knew he should be grateful.

—

Keith fought him as much as fucked him.  They moved without rhythm, harsh and hard and brutal, and Keith growled into James’s skin.

James groaned, letting himself be used as Keith gripped him harder.  “Fuck, Kogane,” he panted.  “You gonna let up at all?”

“Just shut up and take it,” Keith grunted.  It wasn’t _enough._  He rolled them and pinned James to the bed, the join between them becoming sloppy and slick.

James yelped, nails digging into Keith’s back, and he arched into the roughest fuck Keith had to have given in _years._  “Not a chance.  You’ve gotta _earn_ that.”

—

Shiro nodded, then groaned, burying his face in the pillow, shuddering visibly.  “It’s awful,” he groaned again, the heat burning through him like it wanted to consume him.  If he’d known going off suppressants would be like this…  It raged within him, filling him with a need and longing that threatened to shove out all rationality.

And Keith still wasn’t here.

“Can I come and help you?” Adam asked, gesturing to the bed.

Shiro nodded jerkily, pulling the pillow closer, trying not to think about Keith scenting him.  “Yeah.”

Adam ran a soothing hand up Shiro’s spine and stopped at the base of his neck, rubbing the glands carefully.  “Relax, and remember to breathe.  Should we get you out of these clothes?”

—

Keith’s knot finally shrank enough that he could pull free, and he was suddenly pistoning brutal thrusts like punches.  James’s body parted for him, and James hissed, and for a moment, Keith thought he might—

And then arms wrapped around Keith’s neck and a mouth met his, kissing with a tenderness in surprising contrast to the roughness of their movements.

Keith let out a half-sob before he could stop himself, and then he was kissing back like he was drowning.  He clawed at James, trying to drag him close, trying to get as much contact between them as he could.

“Keith,” James gasped, and it might have been the first time Keith had ever heard him use the first name.  “Yes, like that—holy— _please—_ ”

“Fuck fuck fuck—” Keith sobbed quietly.  “Don’t go.  _Don’t—_ ”

He breathed hard and hid his face in warm skin.

“I won’t,” James gasped, kissing him back gently.  “I won’t.  It’s okay.”

—

“Do you need me to… to…?”  Shiro’s head spun.  He’d tugged his shirt off, knowing that it would be… expected, but everything within him rioted.  To get his clothes off, to lunge at Adam right now and have them torn off, to recoil and yell for—

But he managed to grasp a small thread of reality, grounding himself.

“Let me help you,” Adam said quietly.  His hands reached out, starting to unbutton Shiro’s pants, and his hand gently rubbed against Shiro’s aching cock as he did.

“Oh,” Shiro breathed, hips jerking forward, and he shuddered.  He was soaked, _again_ , and he screwed his eyes shut, whining.  “That feels… okay, I…”

Without even taking Shiro’s pants all the way off, Adam slid his fingers in to run fingers through the velvet wetness.

“You’re beautiful,” he murmured.

—

Keith’s thrusts slowed to a more gentle pace, the two of them dropping into a fluid rhythm together.  He lifted a hand to James’s face, holding him close as they kissed.

James moaned, shivering, pulling Keith close.  “It’s gonna…” he gasped between kisses.  “Be… okay.  I’m… ah…”

The words lanced into Keith’s chest.

It wasn’t right.  None of it was _right_ and suddenly there were tears on Keith’s face.  He let go of James.

“No more kissing,” he said thickly.  He pushed James into the sheets, putting distance between them.

Still, James didn’t seem to mind, especially since the prospect of being held down had now entered the picture.  “It’s okay,” he panted, grinding forward.  “If you wanna.”

—

Shiro’s breath caught, and a terrifying mixture of arousal and dread crashed over him.

It hadn’t been like this before—but now it was, and instead of feeling wondrous at being touched in such an intimate place, it felt almost like a violation.

With a gasp, he yanked back instinctively.  Adam withdrew his hand immediately.

“Hey, stay with me.  There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

Shiro tried to steady his gasping, reaching down to grip the sheets, not looking at Adam.  His heart pounded in his ears, and he distantly wondered what his body temperature must be at by now.

“Y-yeah, sorry, I just…”

His body was screaming at him to take it, but—

“We’ll go slow.  Why don’t we start with something you’re comfortable with?  I can give you a massage, or we can try a kiss.”

A hand reached out to cup Shiro’s cheek, and his eyes lifted to a gentle, kind face.

—

Angry at himself, Keith seized James’s hips and dug in his fingers, mechanical thrusts hard and fasts, but all of his muscles too tense for the pleasure to really filter through.  But James didn’t seem to notice, caught in his own heat, and he arched beneath Keith, shuddering as he came, hard.

He locked around Keith in a way that would normally light his body on fire, but all he did was cry out a little in frustration.  He was moving, but not getting anywhere.  The pleasure wouldn’t build.  He couldn’t—this wasn’t _right._

James grunted, grinding down on Keith, body wordlessly pleading for the knot.  Keith could only gasp, so close that it was _painful_ , but his body just wouldn’t finish.

“Ah!” he bit out.  “A—shit—”

Fuck.   _Fuck._

—

“Maybe a massage?” Shiro suggested, trying to take deep breaths.  “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.  I’m here to help.  We’ll just do things one at a time, and only when you’re comfortable.”  He nudged Shiro down, and Shiro settled on his stomach, hiding in his face in the pillow.

As Adam’s hands found the tension in Shiro’s shoulders, applying pressure, working him like dough, he slowly began to scent him.

Despite himself, Shiro let out a soft groan.  It felt nice.  It felt _wonderful._  Part of him wanted to push himself up and throw himself at Adam and wrap himself around him and beg to be mated because god, this _hurt_ , hurt more than he ever could have imagined.

But he could feel his muscles begin to relax, the scent of alpha calming him.

“That’s it; you’re doing well,” Adam praised, and Shiro shivered at the words and at the fragrance.  He took Shiro’s wrist in gentle fingers, turning it, leaning down to kiss it and then—

He ran a tongue slowly over it.

Shiro moaned desperately, beginning to writhe underneath Adam.  The alpha scent grew, enveloping him, claiming him, and Shiro clenched the sheets.

“A-Adam—”

—

“Keith?”

The words cut through James’s ragged pants, and he suddenly found himself enveloped.  He allowed himself to be pulled in, despite feeling like an absolute failure.

“I can’t—”  He choked on the words.  “I’m sorry.”

As if the day hadn’t been strange enough already, a pair of lips pressed to his forehead, then his cheek.

His heart hurt, badly enough to be a physical pain.  He let himself be swept up in the affection and tried not to wonder why James Griffin would ever kiss his brow so tenderly.  They weren’t supposed to do this.  They were supposed to fuck three times and take a break.

Did he really look that fucking pathetic?

“Come on, Keith,” James whispered.  “Fuck me.  Give it to me, god.”

James saying his name curled through him, but it still felt like a betrayal.  Keith took a deep breath and tightened his grip.  He had a job to do.

“Now who’s fucking desperate?” he growled, fucking in deep.

—

Adam nipped at Shiro’s wrist, then let it drop.  He moved to Shiro’s neck, licking a long stripe over both of the glands there.

“You taste amazing,” he rumbled.

Shiro shuddered underneath him, despite himself, gasping and arching into it.  God, it felt _good._

Maybe if he didn’t have to look—

“Please,” he whimpered, and Adam’s palm brushed down Shiro’s back, stopping at the waistband of his pants.  “Let me help you, Shiro.”

Shiro nodded, panting, his heat building up in him like an inferno, pushing at him from underneath the skin and threatening to burn him alive.  Would it be this violent, from now on?

“ _Please_ ,” he repeated, this time in anguish.

Gently, Adam pulled down Shiro’s pants.  “You can stop me at any time,” he said gently, running his hand over Shiro’s ass.

Shiro couldn’t help but flinch, screwing his eyes shut.  He’d expected this when he first started: lie back and think of his internship.  Of the opportunity.

He hadn’t expected it to be this… sickening.

“You’re okay,” he croaked.

—

Keith bit at James’s shoulder, a desperate attempt to connect.  As his teeth sank in, he finally came, but it was short and surprising.  His knot caught just as he emptied out in an aborted orgasm.  His mouth tasted wrong.

Still, James didn’t seem to notice, crooning contentedly at the sensation of being filled, of being knotted, in the way that nothing else during a heat could.  He ground down onto Keith, and Keith had to bite his lip against the pain, even as James cried out, pressing sloppy kisses to the side of Keith’s neck.

Keith panted into James’s shoulder and _grieved._

—

“Lift your hips for me, if you can.”  Adam’s voice was soothing and careful.  He skated a thumb over the back of Shiro’s neck, and it snagged on the hints of a scab.  The bite on Shiro’s shoulder.

Shiro couldn’t help but flinch.  It was just a reminder of who should have been here, instead of Adam.

But that couldn’t happen.  He needed to _stop._

He shifted to get on his knees, face still pressed into the pillow.  Gently, Adam thumbed at Shiro’s wet opening.  Shiro shivered, trying to tell himself that it was arousal, not fear, not dread.  He gritted his teeth and shoved back onto Adam’s finger.

“Shit,” Shiro choked out, shuddering.  His body was open and willing, right?  He tightened around Adam, and it _did_ feel good, the sensation of being filled again.

“Will… will you…”

“What do you want from me, sweetheart?” Adam asked, and god, Shiro should be _able_ to be happy, he should be satisfied to be with someone handsome and kind and gentle.  His heat was demanding and burning and overwhelming, and—god, he just wanted it to stop.

“M-make it better,” he choked.  “I… please.”

—

“Bite me,” Keith begged quietly.

James shifted, but Keith could feel him hesitate.

“Are… you okay?”

Keith swallowed, and the silence lingered.  “…No.  Please.  I—I need to feel something.  _Please._ ”

Another moment of hesitation, and James’s teeth sank into Keith’s shoulder.

Keith gasped, but that wasn’t what he wanted.  He’d used up his small amount of bravery now, though.  He couldn’t ask again.

But the pain was good.  Maybe more of that would be good.

Instead of trying to find a way to make the burning discomfort inside him end, he just let himself slump against James.  He breathed through his mouth and tried to ignore how the air itself smelled wrong.

A hand rubbed at his back gently, and Keith sort of hated himself for having to be comforted like this.

“Better?”

“I’m fine,” Keith bit out.  “I’m fine.”  He tightened his grip, then let out a shuddering breath.  “I’m being a shitty alpha.  We should call in someone else.”

—

“You’re doing fine.”  Adam slipped two fingers inside, spreading them wide inside Shiro, the slickness making it easy.  Shiro could feel himself tighten, just a bit, but Adam continued to thrust into him slowly.

“I’m _not!_ ” Shiro yelped, grinding back, but it wasn’t enough, never enough.  “I need—goddammit, stop—don’t—harder—”

A cracked gasp from behind him, and Adam’s fingers yanked free.  Behind him, Shiro could hear him fumbling with his fly, the sound of clothes being shucked off.

Hands settled on the inside of Shiro’s thighs, spreading them, and then Shiro felt the tip of a cock begin to slide in.

—

The only warning Keith got was James’s sigh.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asked bluntly.

The words stung, anger and frustration and grief rolling through him.

“I don’t fucking know!” Keith shouted, voice hoarse.

He knew it was a mistake immediately: James jerked away so violently that it _hurt_ , yanking on Keith’s knot, and he gripped the sheet for balance, staring up at Keith warily.

“What the—”

Keith breathed harshly for a moment, the acrid scent of frightened omega in the air, but then his shoulders dropped.

“Sorry,” he croaked, voice barely above a whisper.  He couldn’t meet James’s eyes.  “I’ll just… let me go soft and I’ll leave.  I’ll get someone else.”

—

Shiro had thought he could do this.  He really had.  But the panic bubbling up—

It was too much to ignore.

Fear and adrenaline and hormones swarmed together in a cocktail of panic.  An alpha behind him—Shiro couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t comprehend what was happening other than that they were trying to—

“ _No!_ ”

It was a noise that Shiro would have never thought he could make, a primal, terrified cry as he jerked away, head slamming on the headboard.

He barely noticed.

“I—okay.  Yeah, I won’t.  I won’t touch you if you don’t want me to.  I promise.”

Despite the tone, Shiro scrambled away, the words meaning next to nothing.  It was too much.  _Too much._  The scent of strange, terrifying alpha filled the room, and the primal part of Shiro’s mind, suppressed for so long with drugs and now allowed to spill out in the worst way imaginable, clawed its way to the forefront.  The alpha was going to force himself on Shiro—Shiro wouldn’t be able to fight him off—

“Get away!” Shiro screamed, lashing out with his arm, crawling to the side of the bed.  He missed his balance, tumbling to the floor instead, and pressed himself into a corner, his heat roaring in his ears.

“I’m away!  Shiro, I’m away.  You’re okay.  But you have to calm down, okay?  You’re going to hurt yourself, or get too hot, or… you need to take deep breaths.”

The words meant nothing.  “Get _away!_ ” Shiro screamed again, even louder, lashing out despite the distance, knocking the bedside table to the ground.  His arm lifted to cover his mouth in an instinctive attempt to hide, and he bit down, drawing blood.

He curled up, covering his face, shaking, heart pounding, agony rippling through his mind.

_Mate.  He needed his mate.  Mate.  Keith. **Keith.**_

He didn’t realize he’d said the last word out loud.

—

“Right.”

No argument.  No attempt at comfort.  Just an acknowledgement from James.

Keith flinched, but said nothing.  On top of everything else, shame flooded through him; he couldn’t even do his job.  God, what was he going to do?  He’d wrecked his whole life just by spending one night with the most perfect human in the universe.

James cleared his throat, and as Keith’s eyes flicked back, he realized that James was trying very hard not to face him.  He groped quietly through the sheets until he found James’s phone, then held it out to him.

“Here.”

“Thanks,” James replied neutrally, flicking it open immediately.  His fingers flew across the keyboard, sending off an email to find out what other alphas were available, no doubt.

Keith just let his gaze fall on the sheets, willing himself to just die, right now.  He just wanted to be done before this found a way to get worse.

—

Hunk rushed in, the alarm blaring in his office but silent in the corridor.  The moment he stepped through the door, the smell of desperate alpha and terrified omega assaulted his senses.  He shot Adam a venomous look.

“What the hell is going on?”

“I don’t know!  He just… suddenly said he didn’t want me to touch him, and so I backed up, and he just… it’s getting worse.  I can’t get near him, but he smells like he’s right on the edge.”

“Okay.  Okay, sure, fine.  I need you to go outside.  Wait by the door in case we need you.”

Adam left with nothing but his pants on and his figurative tail between his legs.  Hunk stepped over to sit cross-legged next to the bed.

“Shiro, I know you can hear me.  I’m your doctor, remember?  I can make it better.  But you have to tell me what’s wrong.”

Shiro flinched away from the contact, but didn’t seem as panicked as he had moments ago.

“Keith,” he sobbed softly.

A non-response.  Dangerous.

And… Keith.  Of course it was Keith.

Hunk didn’t want to go into Keith’s room, not when he was with Mr. Griffin.  It could throw off a cycle and make an omega feel unsafe.  Even though Mr. Griffin had only ever been as hardcore a badass as possible, it wasn’t fair for Hunk to barge in at such a vulnerable time.

He stood and moved to check Shiro’s vitals on the monitor.

“Shit,” he hissed.  Shiro was rapidly approaching point red.  Hunk had never seen an omega left alone for a heat after ten years of being on suppressants, but he couldn’t imagine it would be anything but ugly.  Shiro had probably ten minutes, tops, before his heart would be in real danger, but Hunk knew that an omega in Shiro’s state would fight him if he tried to administer drugs.

Well.  He was going to have to interrupt Mr. Griffin after all.

—

After an age, Keith finally started to slip free.  He pulled out quickly the moment he was able, then rolled out of bed.  He’d dragged on pants and was pulling on a tee before he’d even thought about it.

Out.  He had to get out.

—

Just moments ago, Adam had been about to sink into heaven.  He’d looked forward to a week of making Shiro smile—and scream.  It had been a match from a dream.

Which had, of course, turned into a nightmare.

Shiro had scrambled away from him, and Adam could only watch, left holding his dick like a lemon.  He’d had to back off, flooded with the scent of terrified omega and his own guilt.

He’d hit the panic button, as he should have, but still.  This had all gone downhill so quickly.  He didn’t even know how it had happened.  What did he do?  He’d thought Shiro liked him, but now Shiro had gone mad with fear—was it him?  Did Adam do this to him?

He shoved his glasses back up his nose as they continued to slide off, the sweat almost as obnoxious as the raging boner underneath his pants.

He was still shaken, almost angry.  Not at Shiro—never at Shiro—but at this entire mess.  He was a _good_ alpha.  He was _known_ for taking care of the omegas in the breeding centers.  There was a reason he was paired with a lot of first-timers, but it didn’t seem to be doing him much good now.  And now Dr. Garrett thought he was, what, some kind of rapist?  He mopped at the sweat on his face with his shirt.

He didn’t hear the door opening.

—

Keith stumbled out into the light, bag slipping off one shoulder, shoes untied.  He was so fucked—

And then he smelled it.  Fear.  Loneliness.  Grief.  His eyes snapped to a tall figure leaning against the wall as his body accepted on a private level that Shiro was in trouble and this guy, _this fucking asshole_ had been close enough to cover himself in Shiro’s smell.

“What the fuck did you do to Shiro?” Keith snarled, lunging forward and shoving the other alpha against the tiled wall.

He barely noticed the other alpha’s eyes widening.  “Woah!  Jesus!” he sputtered, shirt falling to the floor, lifting his hands in surrender.  “I didn’t do anything!  Calm down!”

But the surrender wasn’t enough.  “You reek of him!  I’ll kill you!”  The snarl had grown to a screech, and he slammed the alpha back into the wall again, this time hard enough that a tile fell to the floor and shattered.  Then Keith was pulling back his fist and giving the guy a solid blow to the jaw.

“Get the fuck off of me!” the other alpha yelped, and Keith could smell the reek of angry alpha blooming under that of frightened omega.  Keith found himself shoved back, and he toppled but caught himself, readying another punch as the alpha staggered away, holding his jaw.

He didn’t register the door down the hall opening until someone seized his arm in an iron grip.

“Keith!  Get yourself together!  This is totally unacceptable!”

A familiar voice.  He fought it anyway, ferocious and violently angry, but the grip didn’t budge, and as his struggles grew fruitless, he finally sagged.

“Where is he?” he demanded in a voice more broken than anything.

“You’re crazy,” the other alpha growled.  “He’s in the other room.  I only touched him when he _asked._ ”

Keith’s brain didn’t spare the other alpha, information dumped.  He was already wriggling against the arms pinning him in place, lunging for the door behind him.  Shiro’s heat smell was everywhere, and it hurt as much as it fanned the intense rush inside him.

“Where?  Let me go!” he demanded.

“I can’t if you’re going to be a danger to Shiro or yourself!  You have to get a grip.  _Now_ , Keith!”

—

James could hear the commotion, and even though it took several fumbling moments to yank on a pair of lounge pants, even though the yelling outside had him on high alert and anxious, the hormones from his heat already kicking in again, he yanked open the door—and barely managed to grab the arm of an alpha, teeth bared, about ready to take a swing at Keith.

“What the fuck!” he yelped as the alpha whirled, eyes wide and wary behind his glasses, and James had to wince back at the intensity of the glare.  Still, he managed to summon the spine to glare back, and as the alpha’s eyes settled on James, nostrils flaring, he seemed to relax immediately.

“ _Keith?_ ”

They all froze at the sound.  Slowly, three pairs of eyes slid to Keith, who had gone still and was panting in Hunk’s grip.

“Shiro!” he cried suddenly, ducking and twisting too fast for the doctor to keep up.  James had no idea who that was, but his instincts promised that whatever was happening, it _wasn’t good._

The other three followed, James forcibly ignoring the building insistence of his body.  This disaster was a nice distraction, at least.

As they sprinted down the hall, Keith burst in through the unlocked door.

“Keith Kogane, if you touch that omega you are out of this program!  We have _rules_ , and they are in place for a _reason_.”

The doctor’s voice was deep, loud, and authoritative.  Despite himself, James swallowed.  As they arrived in the doorway, James could see that Keith had stopped halfway into the room, but didn’t turn from where his eyes were riveted on the omega inside.

James licked his lips, taking in this “Shiro.”  Tall, possibly the tallest in the room, and broad—James would have pegged him for an alpha if it hadn’t been so blatantly obvious.  Kind of an Adonis, and James had to admit, begrudgingly, that maybe this guy was worth all that.

And naked, covered in sweat, defenseless behind the bed, the instincts of all the alphas in the room had to be screaming.

“But I’m his alpha.”

The doctor shook his head.  “You turned him down, Keith.  You know why.”

Keith whined low in his throat, and James took an involuntary step back.  If shit went down between the two alphas, this was going to get ugly, and he didn’t want to be in the middle of it.

—

Shiro saw Keith, gripping the side of the mattress—and he couldn’t move.

Keith was everything he wanted, everything he _needed_ , but he’d rejected Shiro, turned him down, and everything was _horrible_ and his heat pounded through him with a vicious thrum—

“Please,” he sobbed softly, eyes locked on Keith’s.  He couldn’t see anything else.  They were alone, just the two of them, and all he wanted—

“Please, Keith.”

But Keith didn’t move, only staring at him, eyes wide, and the seconds dragged on.

It was torture, being this close to Keith and not being able to—

Being rejected.

Primal distress crashed through him, and he let out an anguished cry, sinking back down to the floor and curling in on himself.

—

“What the hell is going on?” the other alpha growled at Doctor Garrett, nostrils flaring, and James inhaled sharply, the authority in the words leaving him feeling _some_ kind of way.

“Get the fuck out,” Keith growled, voice low, flinging himself in front of Shiro, arms spread.  James had never _seen_ him like this, teeth elongated, ready to fight anyone who came too close.

“I need the two of you to get the nurse.”

James’s attention wavered, and his head snapped over to the doctor.  “W-hat?”  With the crack in his voice, he realized that he was sweating.

“We’ll need cooldown packs, and a hormone shot.  I can’t have any more pheromones flying around in here than there already are.”  His eyes stayed fixed on Keith.  “We’ve got a near-mated pair; one of them is Galra.  Tell him that.”

The other alpha’s eyes widened, and he took a step forward, his teeth baring as well.  James had to cover his nose and mouth as the aggression within the room multiplied tenfold.

“I’m not leaving him alone to hurt Shiro.”

Fuck.  Fuck alphas—and not in the fun way.  Why was _James_ the only goddamn one who could—

Fucking torture.  He could usually calm down for a bit after a _really_ good fuck, but the last one had been anything but, and despite the hand over his mouth, the pheromones had him desperate and dripping.  Fear warred with a deep, primal _need_ (a good mate _protects_ what is theirs—the other alpha was bristling and angry, protective, and James didn’t even know his name but his body screamed at him to submit), and he had to dig his nails into his palms to ground himself.  It was everything he could do to keep from jumping the nearest alpha, so he wrenched away and backed up into the wall.

Running through the halls like this?  He wasn’t sure he could trust himself not to climb the first person he saw.

“D-doc,” he choked out, voice thick.

“Mr. Griffin, this isn’t a safe place for you.  If you can get to the nurse, he’ll help you.  He’ll make sure you’re all right.  But I need you to get help, okay?”

The alpha turned, and James suddenly couldn’t breathe.

It was torture, like ripping himself apart, to pull back, to stumble, barefoot and shirtless down the hall, a roaring in his ears as he tried to find… someone.

—

Every hair on the back of Adam’s neck stood upright as he braced himself to be attacked, the tension in the room thick enough to cut with a knife.

Thank god for Doctor Garrett.

“Keith isn’t going to hurt anyone, are you, Keith?  You’re going to sit down with me, and take your shot.  And then we’re going to help Mr. Shirogane.”

Keith’s low, rumbling growl had Adam baring his teeth again, shoulders hunching.  “I told you to get _out._ ”

“Keith.  I _have_ to get to Shiro, okay?  He’s going to be sick if we don’t help him.  You have to let me past.  Adam, you need to go with Mr. Griffin.  He’s on his own, and he’ll need someone to take care of him.  You’re in control, aren’t you?”

The words sank into Adam’s rational mind, and he managed to pull his attention away from Keith, whose eyes were flitting between the doctor and Adam like a mad thing.  Adam couldn’t see Shiro at all, which he knew was… deeply concerning.

But Adam couldn’t leave an omega to wander through the halls.  So he nodded shakily, covering his face for a moment and taking a deep breath.

“Yeah,” he croaked, stepping back out of the room and turning away.

The omega—Griffin, he thought—was watching him like a man dying of thirst being offered water; only Adam’s iron self-control stopped him.  He walked over, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“It’ll be all right.”

Griffin groaned, closing his eyes, sagging back into the hand.  “Not convinced.  No chance we can just go fuck like mad instead, right?”

Adam tried to swallow, but his mouth was strangely dry.  His every instinct demanded that he fuck _something_ in this mess, but he was a goddamn gentleman and he was strong enough to stay in control.

He could feel Griffin’s heartbeat through his shoulder.  Kid must be losing it.

“No.  We need to find the nurse.”

He was in _control._


	9. Chapter 9

It was getting hard to breathe.  Shiro’s heart was pounding in his chest.  His vision was going dark.  Everything was so _hot._

He tried to cry out again, but it only came out in a nasty, choking wheeze.

He curled up on the floor, hidden from view, tears streaming down his cheeks.

“ _Sit with me._ ”

“ _He needs me—_ ”

“ _Sit!  I can’t let you help until you’re under control._ ”

Shiro could just breathe raggedly, desperately.  He wanted to say something, but his mouth wouldn’t listen, wouldn’t even open.

His vision blacked out as he distantly heard himself go quiet.

—

James wiped sweaty hair out of his face with shaking fingers.  “God, this is such a fucking mess.”  But it helped, having an alpha there, and he could breathe a little easier… even if arousal continued to threaten to overtake everything else, the scent behind him like a lure.

“Sure is,” the alpha rumbled in agreement, and James licked his lips—

And then he spotted a nurse.

“Hey!” he yelped, lifting a hand and sprinting forward.  “Hey, we need help!”

He tried to thrust aside the embarrassment of being barely clothed, but at least it would get the urgency across.

The nurse jogged over, his tag reading _Serrano._

“Are you okay?”

“Doctor Garrett sent us,” James panted.  “There’s… a mated Galra pair, I think.  Something went wrong with…”

“Takashi Shirogane,” the alpha finished, and James realized that he had drifted a little closer, bracketing James in, as if to watch his back.

The thought was a brief breath of fresh air in this entire clusterfuck of a situation.

The nurse, however, straightened, his face turning gray.

“Shit.”

“Are nurses allowed to…” the alpha murmured from behind him, but the nurse paid no mind, taking off anyway.

“Follow me!”

“Are you _serious?_ ” James spat, but followed along.  “What are _we_ going to be able to do?”

When they returned, Keith had calmed down, which was a relief.  But there was no sign of the other omega.  Not even a sound.

That was… ominous.

“Nothing.  I just have to sort out the emergency before I find you guys a room—you do need one, right?”  The nurse rooted through a medical cupboard, knocking things over in his haste.

“Mine’s across the hall.”  God, he didn’t want to go back there, the thought of getting even _close_ to that room, to being assaulted by the pheromones running rampant, leaving him nauseous.  “We can… we should get out of the way.”

His eyes slid to the alpha meaningfully.  He _was_ pretty cute, in a thin, nerdy way.  Their eyes met, and the alpha swallowed, pushing his glasses up.

“I’d be fine with that.”

James closed his eyes with relief, and his hand darted out to grab the wrist and drag him away from this disaster.

“Good.”

—

Keith slowly sank to the floor, his growl becoming a whine, bending to Hunk’s will.

Hunk.  He was Hunk.  Keith could remember.  He tried to breathe, but he could sense Shiro’s distress.

“Okay.  You stay here.  I’m going to help Shiro.  Do you understand?”

Keith forced himself to nod, digging nails into his legs.  He watched Hunk with such intensity that he didn’t hear the footsteps behind him until a sharp pain lanced through his upper arm.

He yelped and growled, turning to swipe halfheartedly at the offender, but he stayed absorbed in whatever it was Hunk was doing on the other side of the bed.

The nurse rushed into his vision, and of course it was Lance, some annoyed part of his mind noted.

“Coolant, doctor.”  Lance offered it, and Hunk remained calm as he prepped the syringe.

“Thank you.”

Keith couldn’t see, but after a few moments, he heard it.

“Nngh… what…”

“Keith, come here.”

Keith dragged himself up.  Things were fuzzy, slow.  Nothing felt quite as terrifying, and he couldn’t even touch on anger anymore.  But Shiro still called to him.

And finally, he was allowed to go.

He stumbled around the bed and dropped to Shiro’s side.

He was pale, sweating, expression confused and afraid, and Keith just wanted to kiss all of that away.

—

Shiro came around slowly.  His head was fuzzy and unpleasant, his mouth dry.  But he wasn’t burning up anymore.

He managed to whimper.  He knew that smell.  He knew that touch.

“Keith,” he gasped, shuddering violently.

A hand slid underneath Shiro’s head, lifting it, and a forehead pressed against Shiro’s, so much cooler.  “I’ve got you, baby.  I’m so sorry.  I’m here now.  I’m not going anywhere.  You’re okay.”

Shiro let out a desperate, relieved sob, the scent flooding his nostrils, and suddenly, things were _right._  He surged forward, kissing Keith desperately.

They twined in bliss for several moments, and Shiro pulled him close; he wanted to feel him, to _merge_ with him, if he could—

“Keith.”

With a groan, Keith pulled away, and Shiro gasped, chasing him with his mouth.  But Keith turned.

“He has to consent.  Let the coolant work before you do anything.”

The words sort of meant something, but Shiro could only focus on the way Keith huffed, then turned back, stroking over scent glands and temples and throat.  Taking this as a good sign, Shiro reached for him, desperate for those kisses he remembered.  “Please,” he whimpered, sobbed, clawing him closer.  “I need you, please…”

“Sure, baby, I’m here.”  Keith kissed him, but it was gentle, and Shiro continued to keen, chasing Keith’s mouth.  Steady fingers massaged into Shiro’s skin and Keith seemed to be holding back deliberately.  He tried to lick into the kiss, clawing Keith closer, trying to climb up into his lap.

But Keith didn’t let him.  He held him back, broke the kiss even, and it _hurt._  Instead, Keith tilted Shiro’s head, hiding his face in his neck.  It was _torture_ , every cell in Shiro’s body screaming that he needed to be fucked and knotted and bred, _now._

“Come on, baby.  Just breathe for me and then I can fix this.  You just have to calm down.”

“I’m calm, I’m calm!” Shiro gasped, crawling closer.  “It’s fixed, I’m better, please, I need you, _please!_ ”

“Soon, I promise.  It’ll be okay.”

“Stats dropping,” came a distant voice.  “Keep talking him down.”

Keith ran his hands up and down Shiro’s spine, an attempt at gentleness, but Shiro only kissed him back again urgently.  “ _Now!_ ” he insisted.  “I waited so long, Keith; I waited... I hoped… you left…”

“I know, I know.  I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t have left.  I just… you drive me mad.”  Keith’s arms wrapped tightly around Shiro, and it met some deep, primal need within him.  “Can you forgive me?”

Something within Shiro seemed slightly less desperate, slightly less frantic.  But Keith was still in front of him, and the thought of him leaving again…

“Always.”  Shiro clung even tighter, pressing their foreheads together.  “Please, god, can… can we… I need you; I don’t want anyone else…”

“You have me, I swear.  We just have to get you out of the red zone, okay?  We have to make sure your body can cope.  It’s not used to all of this, and it’s going kind of crazy.”

“I can cope!” Shiro snapped, now angry in addition to everything else, too.  “I’m a fucking adult—I know what I can handle—”

“You’re burning up, Shiro.  You’ve come off the suppressants… hard.”  Keith’s voice dropped, low enough that only Shiro could hear.  “If we can just get your body back into a safe condition, then they’ll let me stay.  Please let me stay.”

“Then fuck me and fix it!” Shiro snapped, anguished, burying his face in Keith’s neck.

“Safe,” came a voice from somewhere to the side, quiet and professional.  “Keith.  Can you do your job?”

Something within Shiro began to bloom.   _Hope._

“Yes!  Yes, I swear Hunk; I swear on my life I’ll make sure he’s safe—”

“Okay,” Shiro heard the doctor say distantly.  “Okay.  I’m going to leave.  Please remember your training.”

“I will; I _swear._ ”

Shiro just whined, pulling back and kissing Keith desperately to shut him up.

“Hunk, are you sure…?” came another voice, and Shiro wanted it to shut up, too.

“This way he has a fighting chance without separation.  You know how bad that can be.  Keith has been with us a long time.  He knows how it works.”

Keith seemed to be trying to stop Shiro from kissing the breath out of him, and it was _frustrating._  “Go,” he pleaded, but Shiro didn’t care because it wasn’t to _him._

The moment the door closed, Shiro lunged.

He took Keith’s face, peppering it with kisses, whining softly still.  “Missed you… missed you so much, baby… thought you didn’t want me…”

“I wanted you _too_ much.”  Keith carded fingers through Shiro’s hair.  “Couldn’t think about anyone, anything else—I got scared.”  Shiro could feel him swallow underneath his lips.  “We… we have to make you come, now, Shiro.”

“Uh huh,” Shiro whined, kissing still, climbing forward, grinding their hips together.  “Keith, god, knot me, mate me, _please!_ ”

“Gotta work up to that or you’ll be too wound up and I won’t be able to help.”

And then, miracle of miracles, he plunged two fingers inside of Shiro.

Still, Shiro shook his head wildly at the thought of having to wait, grinding down, leaking onto Keith’s fingers.  “No, I need it, _now!_ ”

But Keith said nothing, adding two more fingers and shoving all four of them deep.  Shiro gasped and jolted, eyes widening, all thoughts of protest forgotten.

“M-more, please—all of it—”

And then Keith fucked his hand in wider, and Shiro could feel himself stretching around the widest part of his palm—

“Oh, _fuck_ ,” Keith choked out, eyes wide.

“K-Keith?” Shiro whined, tightening, shuddering, taking in the hand.  “Oh, god, more, _more._ ”

And Keith gave him more.

Keith slid his entire hand inside Shiro, his arm disappearing in and out of him until Shiro writhed at the fullness of the sensation.  It should have hurt, he thought distantly, but all it did was fill him, stretch him, sate the desperate need within him.

His eyes rolled back in his head as he came to an overwhelming crescendo of an orgasm, dripping down Keith’s arm, grinding into it desperately.

They stayed together for several more moments, Shiro still rippling with aftershocks, until his body went lax and Keith drew his hand free from the dripping mess between Shiro’s legs.

“That’s one.  How are you feeling, baby?”

Shiro shuddered, feeling a bit more clearheaded.

Just a bit.

Enough to form sentences, anyway.  “How much longer?” he gasped, praying for a merciful answer.

“One more, I think.”  Out of the corner of his eye, Shiro watched him reach for the bedside table, and he thought he might go mad.

With a tremendous groan, he surged forward to kiss him some more.  “Don’t wait,” he pleaded.  “Your knot, I—I _need_ it.  Need you to fill me up, Keith.  I wanna have your—”

He couldn’t finish the sentence, not with his burning need to kiss Keith.

And Keith kissed back, and Shiro hoped, god, he _hoped_ —

“I… yes,” Keith breathed, gripping Shiro’s hips and meeting his eyes.

They glittered.

With a wave of relief, he nodded.  Good.  _Good._  Whining again, he bit gently at Keith’s jaw.  Sliding forward, he spread his thighs even wider; he knew how stretched he must be right now, and he wanted Keith to fuck into him with a brutal roughness.

And yet, Keith’s head tipped back and hit the bed, flinching as if in pain.  “Fuck!”

That awoke a wave of concern in Shiro, and he reached out to take his head, cradling it protectively, pulling him in and kissing him sweetly.  His fingers fumbled for Keith’s pants, pulling them down with determination.  Keith gasped into Shiro’s mouth, flinching.

“It hurts,” he said quietly.

Shiro froze.  Even half-mad with lust, he just wanted to do one thing, and it was take care of Keith.

He didn’t speak, but pulled back to watch Keith carefully.

“B-before, I couldn’t…”  He shifted uncomfortably.  “It was hard for me to come with Griffin.”

“I don’t know who that is,” Shiro said simply.  “Am I hurting you?”

“I… it just hurts.  I think I need to—it’s probably just… that I have to come.”

Shiro nodded with a simple understanding, then moved to sink down onto him immediately.

That seemed to be the right move.  As Keith’s cock stretched Shiro once again, Keith cried out, long and loud; it barely sounded like him at all.  His hands pressed against Shiro’s chest, and his back arched.

Beautiful, Shiro thought, as he sank down completely.  He gasped raggedly, then ground down, begging.  It didn’t matter that he’d just had Keith’s entire hand inside him; this seemed like even more, somehow.

“Oh, fuck, Keith,” he gasped.

As his eyes flicked up, he spotted tears on Keith’s lashes as Keith raked in breaths, blinking quickly as his hands clenched and unclenched against Shiro’s skin.  Behind him, Shiro could hear the heels of Keith’s feet skidding against the floor.

“I missed you.”  Shiro realized that his eyes had begun to stream tears as well.  “You won’t leave again?”

Despite his gentle words, he rode Keith’s dick so hard that he worried Keith’s hips might break.

“N-no, never.  I swear, never!”  Beneath him, Keith squirmed, and Shiro took in the sight, fascinated, as he kept up his merciless pace.

He nodded, eyes hazy.  “You’ll stay with me?” he asked breathlessly, fucking himself relentlessly on Keith.

“Nng—!  Yes!”  Keith’s nails caught on Shiro’s skin, and Shiro could feel him raking red lines down Shiro’s chest, twisting, both as if trying to get away from and deeper inside Shiro.

“Please,” Shiro begged, mind wildly terrified that Keith would leave him again.  “I need you—I love you—I’ll do anything…”

At the words, Keith’s hips bucked up underneath Shiro and locked immediately, letting out a desperate cry to the ceiling.

Shiro came in unison, eerily in sync already.  He leaned in, teeth latching to Keith’s neck, orgasm exploding from him as he rode it out alongside Keith.  Relief coursed through him as the knot swelled, binding them together, exactly what Shiro had needed for so agonizingly long.

“Bite me,” Keith begged on a gasp.  “Mark me properly.”

Shiro couldn’t reach the back of his neck, but he growled, digging his teeth deeper.  He wanted to taste Keith.  He never wanted to forget him.  Beneath him, Keith whined low, then turned to bite at Shiro’s gland.  He couldn’t quite reach it, but butted into his neck.

“I’ll never let another alpha touch you ever again,” he growled.  “I could have killed him.”

“No, baby,” Shiro whimpered.  “Don’t, don’t do that.  Just… just stay with me.”

“I’ll stay.  I promised, didn’t I?”  Keith gently pried them apart, then pressed their foreheads together.  His eyes looked into Shiro’s, and a shiver ran down his back.  “I’m yours.  You know that, don’t you?  I could never be with anyone else.  You’re it?”

He paused, and Shiro could feel the sudden chill of the absence of breath on his lips.

“Does that frighten you?”

At the moment, Shiro couldn’t think of anything he wanted other than to be with Keith.  He shook his head, shivering as he started to come down.

“’S what I want,” he slurred, eyes closing.

Keith let out a soft sigh.  “Good.”  Shiro felt a thumb smooth over his cheekbone.  “I was going crazy without you.”

Shiro groaned, leaning into the gentle hand.  “I… me too.  It hurt.”  He swallowed, steeling himself, and closed his eyes.  But Keith had… still left him.

“Why?”

A pause, and for a moment, Shiro thought he might not get an answer.

“Hunk says… he says that since I’m part-Galra, and we’re so… compatible, that I imprinted on you.  Now… now I only want to be with you for the rest of my life.”

Shiro’s stomach dropped in shock, the words clearing his head out… immediately.  It wasn’t fundamentally different than the other things they had said, but hearing it said in such plain terms was a douse of cold reality after their heated coupling.

“Wait, _what?_ ” he choked out, eyes wide.  “I—I was asking why you _left_ ; I didn’t think—how could—what does—”

It was a slow, dawning realization that _the rest of my life_ is a _long_ time.

But movement jerked him out of his distraction, and as his eyes flicked back to Keith, he saw that he had hunched his shoulders, as if to become small, become air, become nothing.  He didn’t look up at Shiro.

“I left because you aren’t Galra.  So the imprint—it was only one way.  I knew for you it wouldn’t… mean... as much.”

Shiro inhaled shakily.  No, he wasn’t Galra, as far as he knew.  And… he wasn’t sure he _could_ understand.

But this was Keith.

He reached out to take Keith’s face, stroking gently.

“I didn’t know you felt that deeply,” he said quietly.

Keith couldn’t meet his eyes.

“I tried not to.”  He took a deep, shuddering breath.  “I don’t even know you, not really.  But I feel like I can’t… be, without you.”

Shiro nodded, taking a deep breath of his own.  “Wow.  I… I wasn’t expecting that.”

Another shudder of desire ran through him, and he he groaned, leaning in, and buried his face in Keith’s neck.

Keith’s arms wrapped around Shiro, awkwardly holding Shiro in place.  “I know.  It’s weird.  I just… we can be here for this heat and then we can work it out.”

The implication that Shiro could leave after this heat nearly opened a chasm within him, so he thrust that thought away.  Instead, he kissed gently on Keith’s jaw, then his neck, then his mouth.

He didn’t know what to say, but he hoped his actions would speak loudly enough.

Keith lifted Shiro’s face between his hands, kissing back sweetly and slowly morphing it into something deeper.

Shiro moaned into his mouth, shivering as his heat began to overtake him again.  He wanted this.  He _needed_ this.  The domestic fantasies he’d dreamed of—they were so real now.  Terrifyingly so.

But that didn’t make it a bad thing.

“Make love to me?” he breathed.

Shiro could feel Keith, once-soft, stirring again within him.

“Anything.  Let’s go to the bed.  Your knees must hurt.”

Shiro crooned, then nodded, shakily trying to pull away.  As Keith slid out of him, his body ached for it.

He pushed himself to his feet.

A steadying arm hooked around Shiro’s waist, and he eased Shiro to the bed, pressing a kiss to his lips.

“Scoot up.  I wanna see your face this time.”

Shiro laughed breathlessly, obliging.  “Y-yeah.  I wanna see you, too.”

Keith followed him across the sheets, crowding him against the headboard.  “You’re beautiful,” he breathed, expression enraptured at the sight of Shiro against the white sheets.

And Shiro gasped and shivered, the scent of Keith overwhelming.

…He frowned slightly, catching another smell, and leaned in, sniffing.

The scowl deepened.

“You were with someone else.”

As he watched, Keith didn’t flinch, but it was a near thing.

“Yeah,” he admitted quietly.  “I told you.  I couldn’t… we…”

Something about it sounded vaguely familiar, but Shiro didn’t _care._  He whined, nuzzling into Keith, kissing at his neck.  He needed to mark his alpha, stake his own claim, make sure everyone knew that Keith was _Shiro’s._

“I’m sorry; I won’t do it again—”

“Okay,” Shiro replied, but he sounded pathetic, even to his own ears, the whine still _there_ , and he kind of hated himself.  He pulled back to kiss Keith deeply, licking into his mouth, begging for reassurance.

Keith seemed to take it as permission, and he proceeded to _devour_ Shiro.  He pressed him into the sheets and saturated the air with scent, rich with want.  He surged between Shiro’s legs and lazily thrust against him.

Shiro groaned, opening for him, soaking the sheets and Keith and filling the room with his own scent.

“Hurry,” he mumbled.

Keith nuzzled against Shiro, and without any further delay, guided himself into Shiro’s waiting body.

Shiro shuddered, pressing closer as Keith sank inside without resistance.  His body sang, and it was a perfect fit, and a dick sliding inside him shouldn’t feel like putting on the slipper after the ball, but here they were.

“Keith,” Shiro breathed, scent on overdrive to cover the both of them, and finally, _finally_ , the tempest within him subsided.  In its place was expanding fondness, a gentle searing like magma through him.  Intense, but not painful.  Keith moaned and nosed at Shiro’s cheek.

“Say it again,” he demanded quietly, starting a slow rhythm.

“Keith,” Shiro repeated, more firmly, meeting the thrusts with a smile so wide that it hurt.  “ _Keith._ ”

The rhythm built.  Every utterance of Keith’s name from Shiro’s kiss-bruised lips drove the thrusts deeper, but it remained slower than the times before.  Keith leaned in to kiss his names off those lips and rubbed hands up Shiro’s body in a sweep of worship.  In return, Shiro licked desperately into Keith’s mouth in adoration.  It was bliss, finally, and Keith was right where he should be.

The pressure, the pleasure, built slowly.  The kind that kindled low and burned hot, the kind that was going to end in the sort of orgasm that would _wreck_ him.  Keith’s hands found Shiro’s pecs, squeezing them indulgently.

Shiro gasped at the pressure, shivering.  “Yes!” he panted.  “God, yes, like that—more!”

And, obediently. Keith took a nipple into his mouth and sucked.

Shiro practically shrieked—they were sensitive, after all, as his body tried to ready them for what might come next.  Hands flew up to grip Keith’s sides, and Shiro ground forward desperately.  Taking the nub between his teeth, Keith flicked his tongue across the swollen tip.  For one brief, agonizing moment, his hips stuttered, but then he resumed his torturous pace.

“Keith!” Shiro keened, gripping harder, the orgasm threatening to crash over him.

Keith pulled back and replaced his mouth with his hands, instead peppering kisses and bites across Shiro’s neck.  “Gonna plug you up.  I wanna watch you fall apart,” he growled low.

Shiro groaned softly, shivering and pressing closer.  Keith’s hands on his pecs left his mind blown, and he tightened around him.  “Please,” he groaned.  “ _Yes._ ”

Keith’s pace increased, and his fingers pinched and his eyes flashed.  “I want… to claim you,” he panted.

“I know,” Shiro whined.  “I need it, Keith, I need to be…”

Keith growled loudly, and on a powerful thrust, he darted forward and seized Shiro by the neck, teeth digging into gland and flesh.  It was so immediately everything that Shiro needed that his head rushed and he bucked up hard, screaming—it was so close, but not quite, and it hurt and was terrifying and something he desperately wanted all at the same time.  As Keith buried deep, knot swelling thickly within him, Shiro came violently, shuddering, gasping, vision going white.

Keith held Shiro in place as he pumped into him, little aborted thrusts that made him whine, oversensitive and overwhelming.  He breathed harshly, and Shiro shuddered underneath him, allowing himself to be used, to be bred, his body craving the rush of warmth that flooded inside him.

It took some time, but he could see again, just a little, the flames of his heat abating, if only for a while.

“Keith…”

Keith finally dropped him, licking gently over the wound to help it start to close quickly.  As Shiro watched dazedly, Keith pulled back to inspect it, clearly pleased with the neat ring of punctures and the notion that anyone looking at Shiro would know he wasn’t available.  “Hmm?” he asked, distracted.

Shiro groaned softly, twining around Keith to hold him close, shivering at the intimacy of the contact.

“Feels good,” he crooned.

“Good, baby; I want you to feel good.”  Keith dragged Shiro closer in turn and kissed him lazily.  Shiro, for his part, shuddered, kissing back, fully intending to be useless for the next fifteen minutes, at least.

Keith was here, and everything was going to be all right.


	10. Chapter 10

Hunk gave Keith a Look™ as he finished up Shiro’s physical.

“No lasting damage,” he said pointedly.  “This salve will help those bites avoid infection.  I would put a dressing across them, but I don’t have one big enough.

This time, his look turned into a glare, and out of the corner of his eye, Shiro could see Keith avoiding Hunk’s.

Making a point, he lifted his chin proudly.  A week straight of heat sex hadn’t dampened his spirits one bit.

“Fine by me.  I’m hoping at least one of them scars.”

He could hear Keith choke, and he couldn’t resist a small smirk.  In contrast, Hunk’s mouth was a flat line.  Shiro didn’t care.

“What about you?” Hunk asked, turning to watch Keith.

“No.  I want to leave mine.”  Keith’s eyes had shifted to Shiro and he smiled, small and careful.

“…Okay.  Well, wash them with salt water at least.  Or ask Shiro to clean them for you if you guys get the chance; his saliva will be faster than anything I could give you, anyway.”

Shiro grinned like an idiot, leaning forward to bump his head against Keith’s temple.  “Really?  That easy?”

“That’s pretty much it.  You guys can do an exit interview, but you don’t have to.  It can be good to talk about what you want done differently next time—”

“I’m good,” Keith said quickly, as Shiro’s stomach dropped.

“Next time?”  He glanced back at Hunk, expression nervous.  “Are we still expected to…”

He didn’t want another Adam.

Shit.   _Adam._  His eyes widened.

“Is Adam okay?”

Hunk blinked.  “Oh, uh.  I’m sorry; I made an assumption.  Of course you don’t have to work together after this.  And Adam is fine.  We… allocated him elsewhere, and it all worked out.”

“You don’t want a next time?”  Keith’s quiet voice cut into the discussion, and Shiro noticed that he had grown tense.

“Of course I don’t want a next time!” Shiro snapped, agitation rising.  “Isn’t that what got us into this mess in the first place?  I just want to be with you—I want to do this with Keith.  Does it matter who I’m—who I’m _fucking_ , as long as I pop out babies?”

Hunk let out a little laugh, and Shiro bristled even more at the idea of this being something worth mocking over.  “ _With_ Keith, I was saying.  And I believe Keith meant, as well.  Isn’t that right?”

Keith blushed, but didn’t falter.  “I’d like to accept your application, Shiro.  I’d never make you go back out there on your own.  I’m sorry I rejected it before.  I was just… scared.”

“…Oh.”  Well, now Shiro felt more than slightly ridiculous.  But then something occurred to him, and he swallowed.

“What if I’m pregnant?”

“Then you won’t be called in except for checkups.”  Instead of watching Shiro, Hunk eyed Keith meaningfully, and Shiro wondered at the unspoken discussion.

“And will Keith?” he asked quietly.

“…That’s up to him,” Hunk said carefully.  “He’d have to be reevaluated after the recent incident, of course.”

Shiro watched the panic set across Keith’s face.  Violet eyes lifted, wide, to meet Shiro’s.

“This… is the only job I have.”

The words shouldn’t have punched him in the gut like that.  He gripped the arms on the chair.  Right.  Fine.  He could… do this.”

“Okay,” he said carefully.  “Sure.  That’s okay.  I get it.  I understand.”

Keith looked away, staring hard at his knees, voice lowering.

“I don’t… have any money, or qualifications, or connections.  Just a list of ‘minor infractions’ and an attitude problem.”  He breathed in, the noise shuddery.  “I don’t… can we work it out?”

Shiro didn’t care what it might cost; he wasn’t going to let Keith go to sleep hungry for his sake.  He reached out, taking his hand.

“Absolutely.  I’m going to—I want to be with you, no matter what you do for a living.”

Keith swallowed, and he finally lifted his eyes.  “With me?”

“With you,” Shiro said firmly, “always.”

For a brief moment, there was no one in the room but him and Keith.

Keith squeezed Shiro’s hand.  “I want to be with you too,” he admitted quietly.

Shiro nodded, lifting the hand to kiss the back of it gently.  He smirked as Keith went bright red.

Hunk cleared his throat, and Shiro turned to see that he had raised his eyebrow at them both.

“I was going to mention,” he said, voice dry, “that there is a position for alphas to look after pregnant omegas.  It was designed specifically for those who meet someone within the program that they want to mate with.  We might be losing a breeding alpha, but bonded pairs are more likely to produce multiples, for one.”

Shiro flushed, glancing down at his flat abdomen.  Was there a chance that, if he were already pregnant, it wasn’t just with one?  Could there be two, possibly three?  Keith had mentioned that he was Galra, too; with that and the fertility drugs…  Shiro had heard of litters, but he’d never thought…

“It comes with other expectations, too; there will be work you’ll be doing with other omegas, just not involving sex.  Sometimes they just need to be calmed, or have a steadying presence, especially after emotionally intense situations such as birth.  It would require an evaluation—and possibly some sensitivity training—but we can certainly explore that option.”

Keith brightened, and it was like watching the sunrise.

“Yeah, I’d… I’d like that.”

Hunk nodded.  “Then there are some things I need to discuss with you—about the incident last week, for one, and begin the process to have you certified as fit to handle those things.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever you need.  But I want to do that.”

Shiro nodded eagerly, beaming.  “That sounds wonderful.”  He knew that it was probably too much to lean over and kiss Keith, but he squeezed his hands.

Keith squeezed back, looking up at Shiro like he couldn’t quite believe that this was real.  After a moment, he turned back to Hunk.

“Can we do it now?  Shiro, I can meet you in the cafeteria?”

Shiro hesitated, not saying anything, but his spine prickled, anxiety beginning to settle within him.

Keith tightened his grip, turning to focus all of his attention on Shiro.  “Hey, it’s okay.  What’s wrong?”

“Why do I have to leave?”

The words sounded idiotic, but though his heat had technically passed, it had left him emotionally and physically ravaged.  The latter had been quite nice; the former… not so much.  The idea of being separated from Keith again, so soon, left his stomach churning.

They sat in silence for several moments, and then Keith reached out to smooth his hand down Shiro’s chest.

“How about we both leave, and I come back in tomorrow?” Keith asked gently.

The words felt like a punch to the gut.  “You want to go?”

“You’re coming with me,” Keith amended quickly.  “Uh, I hope.  Or I’m going with you.  I’d like to spend time with you outside of here.”

“Oh.”  The concern ebbed from Shiro immediately, leaving him even more embarrassed than earlier.  God, last week had affected him even more than he had realized.  “Right, okay.  Sure.  Do you… have a preference?”

“…My neighborhood isn’t the best place for an omega coming down from a heat.  So.  Maybe, uh, not there.”

Shiro nodded distantly.  “Sure.  I just moved into the Initiative-provided housing.  It’s very nice.”

Keith’s expression was weirdly shy.  “Sounds, uh, good.’

Shiro squeezed his hand.  “I can… be here with you.  For the interview.  If you want.”

“Thanks, Shiro.”  Keith’s face broke into a smile, and Shiro wanted to imprint it on his heart forever.  “I trust Hunk.  It’ll be okay.”

Shiro turned, watching Dr. Garrett warily as he remembered the reason for their future separation.  “You sure?”

“Yeah.”  Keith nodded, looking far more at ease than Shiro felt.

Shiro _hated_ it.  But he had no choice.

He eyed Dr. Garrett with clear mistrust.

“Anything else you need?” he asked, voice a little cold.

“Not at the moment.  You two can head on out when you’re ready, and we’ll contact you about your next appointments.”

“Fine,” Shiro said shortly, still eyeing the doctor.

Keith stood, cracking his spine, then extended a hand to Shiro.

“I think we’ll go, then.  It’ll be nice to see the sun again.”

Shiro took Keith’s hand, and Keith nearly dragged him out of the room with a cheerful, “Bye, Hunk!”

Shiro followed along; the windows were bright and Shiro wanted to be outside.

“Do you want to ride with me?  I have my bike parked outside.”

“I want to _ride_ you again,” Shiro said bluntly.  “But yes, please.  I didn’t bring a car.”

Shiro spotted the flush on Keith’s face as he shot a dirty look over his shoulder.  Shiro smirked.  “Maybe if you’re really good, that can be arranged.”  He waved at the receptionist and burst out into the street.  The sun was glorious on their skin, and Keith turned to drop a kiss on Shiro’s cheek.

Shiro laughed delightedly.  “And what if I’m really bad?”

“Then I suppose I’ll have to teach you how to behave.”

“I sure hope so.”  Shiro reached out and tangled their fingers together; Keith took the opportunity to lean in and kiss Shiro sweetly.

Keith had parked two blocks away; Shiro eyed the bike as they walked up, smirking.  “Have I mentioned that you tick every one of my boxes?”

“I think we went over that at the beginning, but I guess you like her, huh?”

Shiro hummed, running his hand over the leather seat.  “I really, really do.”

“Don’t go making me jealous, now.”

Shiro sauntered to the other side, then bent over, crossing his arms on the seat and leaning on them with a smirk.  As he watched, Keith leaned his weight on one hip and whistled.

“She’s prettier with you on her,” he drawled with the tone of a man wondering if he could get his boyfriend to lose the clothes on a motorcycle sometime.  Shiro looked forward to the day he discovered Shiro would do so with alacrity.

“Glad you can appreciate a view.”

Keith pushed him off, cheeky but gentle, and threw one of those perfectly-shaped legs over the seat.  He pressed his thumb to the ignition, and the bike lit up with a throaty rumble.  “You getting on, then, hot stuff?”

Shiro scoffed, but settled in behind Keith, pressing his lips to the nape of his neck.  “I’ll tell you the way, cherrybomb.”

Keith shivered underneath Shiro.  “Hold on tight, then.”

He revved the engine hard.

—

Without a helmet for Shiro, Keith went slower than usual, but Red wasn’t made for dawdling.  The streets blurred by as Shiro alternated between kissing the back of his neck and murmuring directions.  They eventually found themselves in the nice part of town, right next to the university.

It was swanky.  Keith felt completely underdressed, and a bit like people would be able to smell how poor he really was if he got too close.  They coasted slowly past boutiques and ice cream parlors and houses with little balconies.

Finally, Shiro pointed with a laugh.  “There!  Right there!  Through the gate.”

Keith wobbled a little.  No _way._  It was cute, but looked expensive as hell.  He hadn’t asked what sort of deal Shiro had cut with the Initiative, but he had to admit… intense curiosity.

Still, he glided through the gate.

Shiro nodded at the doorman—the fucking _doorman_ —and then directed Keith to a parking spot.  Keith just followed instructions silently.

Shiro linked his arm through Keith’s, heading upstairs, waving at a neighbor, giving off contented omega scent.  Keith kept his head ducked, but the comforting smell helped him ground himself.  These were just people with big bank accounts or a really good deal with the government.  They all shit the same way in the end.

“You okay, baby?” Shiro murmured, and Keith tightened his grip a little and lifted his chin.

“Yeah.  Yeah, I’m good.”

“You sure?  If there’s something wrong…”

“I’m with you.  Nothing could be wrong.”

Shiro unlocked the door and stepped inside.  As Keith followed, his nostrils flared.  Everything smelled… scentless.  It was weird.

“You really did just move in, huh?” Keith asked, wandering further into the lovely space.

Shiro hummed.  “Yeah.  It’s pretty… new.  And all that.  But so much bigger than my dorm room was.”

“You used to be in a dorm?  Man, I guess… I don’t actually know a lot about you.  That’s kind of weird.”

“I told you I was in a fraternity,” Shiro laughed.  “I lived in their housing.  But now that I’m starting grad school, I want to free that up for someone else.”

“Oh, yeah, you did.”  Smart jock, Keith remembered thinking.  Someone way more than Keith was capable of matching up with.  But his heart had latched on anyway, and now they had… this.

“Do you miss them?”

“Nope; I still go to the same school.”  Shiro winked at Keith, and Keith’s heart did a little backflip.

“I meant living on your own.  Is it weird?”

“Oh.”  Shiro thought for a moment.  “Actually, it’s nice having a place of my own.”

“It’s good to have your own space.  But it’s quiet.”  Keith reached out to touch a face in a photograph, then pulled his fingers back.

Shiro turned and tilted his head, watching Keith fondly.  “Hoping you can fix that.”

Keith ducked his head.  He knew what Shiro meant, but the implications… he tried not to think about it.

Tried not to hope too hard.  Not just yet.

Shiro leaned over, nosing at Keith’s cheekbone.  “You’re staying the night, right?”

Keith exhaled, contentment settling over him as he turned into Shiro.  “Yeah.  Yeah, I’ll stay.”

“Can stay the weekend, too.  And maybe the week…” Shiro hummed.

“How about… I’ll stay three days.  And then go three days.  And we can see how we feel?  Test the waters.”

Shiro huffed, but the little pout on his face was fucking adorable.  “Well, as long as you can help me scent up the place.”

Keith felt himself puff up, and he smirked.  “I can definitely do that.  Just show me where.”

Shiro smirked back, grabbing Keith’s wrist and dragging him in the direction of what, Keith soon learned, was the bedroom.

They spent the next four hours marking every surface in the apartment as theirs.


End file.
